Dual Game
by dark valkyrie
Summary: Fuji's childhood friend moves back into Japan. Not only is she trying to outwit him, she's trying hard to fit into school. They began their little game of torture... against each other... OC. However, more than meets the eye as the story unfolds...
1. In the beginning

A/N: hehe, well, this is my first PoT fic and it has been a long time since I wrote any stories so… sorry if it's not neat or good. Gomen. Reviews are welcomed! -grin-

disclaimer: nope… I dun own the PoT characters here except the OC…

It seemed like any usual sunny, hot afternoon. The long boring lessons at Seishun Gakuen had long ended. Most of the students have already gone home, leaving the school's tennis club in the midst of training… well, running to be exact, Stamina training to be more specific. They ran… and ran… and ran…. Some fainted, some gave up and drank poison, some persevere and some… forgot how many laps they have ran.

"Argh! How many laps more! Just how many more?" shouted Momoshiro. He looked as if he was going to drop dead any moment. Kaidoh would have liked that a lot.

"10 more laps to be exact." replied Inui as he pushed up his thick glasses, trailing slightly behind so that he can spy… err I mean, carry out better observations. Yes. Carry out better observations. . "It's ok if you want to stop. There's a refreshing glass of my new Deluxe Energising And Thirst-quenching Hot-juice! Its warm temperature would allow your body to cool down slowly to regain full energy and on the other hand,…"

Before Inui could finish ranting on about his new creation, his fellow red-head regular cried out,

"Nyah! It spells D.E.A.T.H.! I don't wanna drink it!"

"What do you mean by 'death', Eiji-sempai?" Ryoma ran caught up, adjusting his cap into proper place. All that running had caused the cap to shift till it dropped lower and lower, covering his eyes. It hardly drops, except when his Dad decides to re-adjust the cap strap without his boy knowing. baka oyaji.

"The initials of the DRINK!"

"AHHHHHH!"

At this point of realisation, the team went bonkers. If one did not knew better, they would have thought that the few screaming people, running round the courts with their hands flailing in the air, were being chased by ghosts. Well, it was till Tezuka-buchou threatened to make them run extras if they continued.

"Stop wasting your energy and run! Scream some more and I'll have you run extras! 10 per second you scream." Everyone stopped screaming at that point. They literally zipped up.

At that very moment, someone lagging behind gave up and fell to his knees. Immediately, he was presented with a glass of bubbly foaming orange liquid.

-Well, we all know what happened next so due to its explicit nature, it shall not be described.-

The torturous scream from the corner of the court struck a chord in Kawamura. He looked around. Not seeming to find the answers to his questions, he asked "Speaking of juice, has anyone seen Fuji? I thought I saw him in school today."

"He's not coming today." Oishi replied. "He said that he has got some family matters to attend to. Dun worry, I'm sure he's fine." It's just like Oishi to know where every member was… Who was sick, who was late, who was in trouble, who was dead…erm… I mean, juice dead. (A/N: hehehe )

"Sou da na…" Momoshiro envied, "he's one lucky guy I guess… No laps, no Inui juice…"

However, not too far away from Seigaku, it seemed Momo's statement was wrong.

"Saa… I wonder what the rest of the team are doing now." pondered a light-hair boy as he stood with his fingers slightly pinching his chin as his smile grew wider, "Maybe they're drinking Inui's new juice! They sure are lucky…"

in a distance, more blood-curling screams arose from the vicinity of Seishun Gakuen+

"I just wish I was there but it's okay since I've got Yuuta here with me." Fuji looked at his brother and smiled. Grabbing Yuuta's hand, he dragged the poor boy away from the bustling lobby towards the large glass panels.

"Aniki! Let go! Don't get so close." Yuuta struggled in vain but it seems his older brother's vice grip has gotten stronger compared to the previous time Fuji dragged (Yuuta: more like abduct) him home leaving Mizuki to wait in the shopping mall till 9pm.

"Ne… we've been waiting for so long. How long more? When is her flight touching down anyway?" Yuuta whined. The both of them plus Yumiko had been standing around the arrival hall of the airport for a really long time and only Yumiko managed to find a seat somewhere nearby while the boys agreed to stand.

"5pm"

"NANIII? And you dragged me out of school just to come here 3 hours earlier just to wait!" For a moment Yuuta thought that he could strangle his bro there and then, leave his body to miraculously rot in the air-conditioned place, and go home without him.

"Maa maa Yuuta, don't be rude. She's our guest after all. As they say there's never a time too late to be early."

Yuuta gave a cry of frustration before turning round to stomp off. However, he was stopped by a familiar face. In front of him stood a girl, slightly shorter than Fuji (Syuusuke), wearing a denime coat and jeans and dragging a luggage behind her.

She squinted her eyes as she tried to remove a part of her fringe that was covering her eyes.

"Yuuta? There you guys are! So you were here all along?" she exclaimed as she threw her arms around Yuuta and hugged him… tight, in fact too tight, more like chokingly tight.

"Yuki!"

The girl looked up and finally let go of Yuuta who was turning blue. She went over to give Fuji a hug. "Syuusuke! Ekk! You've grown taller! Mou… You're taller than me!" She was so excited in meeting them till her voice became shrieky. She tried to tiptoe to see how much she has to go in order to compete with her childhood friend's height.

"Whatever, but Yuuta's still taller than you."

"That's because I sacrificed the good nutritious food for him." Fuji replied while shedding a fake tear and putting a hand on Yuuta's left shoulder, "It seems that it was worth it."

"Next time remember to give me some of the food instead of giving it all to Yuuta ok?"

"Iyada."

"Say," Yuuta cut in curiously after he had caught his breath and pushed Fuji's hand away, "I thought you're flight touches down at 5pm, you're still half hour early."

Looking confused, Yuki peered down at her watch, "Ara? I touched down an hour ago."

"Wait… it was flight 615, wasn't it? Belt 31 right?"

"No. Flight 165, belt 13."

"Aniki!"

The trip back to the Fuji's residence seemed like a short and lively one. The four of them had much to catch up after Yuki left Japan 5 years back to return to her homeland across the sea, miles and kilometres from Japan.

She found herself standing in what used to be a redundant study room. The room was in a shade of pale green with a sweet spring scent It was small yet cosy with a super single bed at the corner. Its sheets were straight and not a single crisp on it, the pillow placed on the neatly folded blanket. The study table was shifted to the side of the bed. On it, the old working lamp was placed there. Though it had aged over time, it still works perfectly. Well, the room did bring back lots of memories, happy memories…

Fuji cocked his head to the side, as he placed her grey luggage down.

_God, its heavy, what did she put inside? Brick_s?_ Maybe a dead body or something…_

"What's the matter? You don't like it?"

"No… please don't get offended. It's just that I don't think I can re-arrange the furniture in my mind. Maybe it's just that I've lived next door for too long." Yuki walked towards the window and gaze to the house next door. It was under construction. The previous one was torn down, to make way for a new one. Yuki touched the window pane softly and as if in deep ponder, she stood there silently. However, her thoughts were disrupted when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Maa maa… daijoubu daijoubu, your house will be back up again. Shiner and more beautiful ne! Plus a tennis court behind. See! Nothing to sigh about. Smile!" At that instance, Fuji tried to push the corners of her mouth to make her smile. Pushing her to the nearby standing mirror, he showed her. "Mitte! Like this!"

"Like this?" Yuki gave him the smile that he asked for. "How about this? I think it looks cuter." She gave him a pout and posed side-ways, making Fuji give a little giggle.

_Ahh… he still hasn't changed one bit hasn't he… that stupid giggle…kawaii. hahah_

"No… My pout is nicer than yours" at that, he gave a pout followed by a suited pose. "See?"

Feeling jealous, she stomped her feet and jumped. "Mou… you're mean! You just won't let me win won't you?"

"Ahh.. you must be tired after such a long trip. Don't worry." He walked over to the wooden cupboard next to the window and opened its doors, revealing a pastel green and white outfit with a ribbon on it. "See, we've got your uniform ready. Yumiko-neesan bought it according to your measurements… actually, she dragged me to try it on… quite comfortable I might say. . Make yourself at home."

"Thanks." Yuki nodded as she went over to look at the uniform. "Though the skirt looks… a little short…" She held up the skirt and turned it to the back and to the front. A frown grew on her brows.

"It'll look fine…" He took each of her hand in his and lowered the skirt down to her waist, "See… its fine."

_What's with his weird behaviour today? So touchy. First the face, now he's holding my hand…That was definitely suspicious. Wait, what's that tinge of red on his face?_

Yuki tiptoed slightly to take a closer look, "It is just me or are you having a sun-burn?"

_Did I just saw –that- smile on his face? Wait, that means he's plotting something. Oh no, it's a tri-_

"Okay, that should be it. Just make yourself at home. If there's anything, you know where's my room is." With that, he gave Yuki a peck on the cheek, before closing the door behind him. Yuki froze at the bold touch of his lips on her cheeks.

_That didn't happen… did it!_

The thought of her childhood friend even doing that had never crossed her mind. She slowly touched the spot where he left the kiss. It still felt a little damp yet warm. She looked into the mirror and saw her flushed face. She stood there. The horror, the embarrassment, the confusion, the… the… the…

"EKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!"

"Ehh? Yuki seems to be having trouble!" Yumiko exclaimed as her brother walked by with a winning smile, humming away back to his room.

"Hmm? She's just too happy that's all. Hehehe."

_Fuji Syuusuke, wait till I get my hands on you neck!_

A/N: ok that's it for this chap. Pardon the robot language. It's 1am in the morning. I need my sleep. My eyes hurt. rubs eyes Pls review. Thank you. Muax. ZzzZZzzzz


	2. The Walk

A/N: Mou. New day, New chapter. Hope you like it. I thought of writing some more before I go bury myself in my books for the up-coming exams.

K it's a double-chap today so dun forget to read the next chap. Thanks to Goggelgirl for the review! Enjoy!

* * *

Stretching his body as he made his way to the dinning room, Fuji dragged his bag down the stairs sleepily. Somehow the rhythmic sound the heavy bag made with the wooden stairs sounded melodic. Too bad, everybody should be awake by now. He sat down at the table, head almost dropping to the table. 

"Careful, it's still hot. Had a bad sleep?" His mom walked past and placed a plate of scrambled eggs and sausages before him. It's not like her son to be so tired. She placed her palm on his forehead to check the temperature, "Or are you sick?"

"No, its nothing," he peered up at his mom through his fringe, smiling at her, "I was trying to complete my homework last night. I've got to admit, it's one challenging assignment. Hehheh." He stabbed the sausage with his fork and nibbled at the sides. "Oh by the way, Yuki's not down yet? Maybe I should go up to wake her up before she's late."

"She woke up an hour ago. Yumiko is helping her with her stuff upst-"

At that moment, a disturbed Yuuta came growling and stomping down the stairs, covering his ears with his pillow, "Argh! Mom, I think you better go up to help nee-san. Yuki refuses to come out. Their making lotsa noise up there!" He went over to the nearby sofa and dumped his tired body there.

"Come on! You look just fine! Come down! Come down!" Yumiko appeared, carrying a bag and tennis racket with one hand and tugging Yuki with the other.

Yuki held her skirt down with one hand and tugged with the other in the opposite direction. "Iyada! You call this skirt 'fine'? Its finely short!"

Unfortunately, Yumiko knew how to play tug-of-war well, given the experience of the game against 2 younger guys and still winning. She managed to drag the furiously blushing girl to the dinning table. She sat down quick and stiffly.

She turned to Fuji and pointed at him. She snarled, "Whatever you do, don't look down!"

"Betsuni."

_He's doing it again!_

"And wipe that grin that stupid grin off your face."

A sofa cushion flew out from the direction of the living room and landed near the dinning table followed by a sleepy frustrated muffled voice.

"Oh be quiet already! I wanna sleep!"

Ryuusaki was early in school as usual. She needed to clear up some administration work for her form class as well as for the tennis club. The faster she could clear it the better, rather than let it pile up to the height of Mount Fuji. It's already bad enough that she couldn't find some of her classes' maths assignments, let alone the attendance book for the club. Something didn't seem in place with her desk. Something brown. Something suspicious. Something fore-boding. Something like a student's file…

"Ara? Mataku…" Ryuusaki sighed. "Don't tell me someone in class got into trouble again."

She flipped open to find a note popping out. This was unlike the other disaster files that she got, except for the one that belonged to the student who blew the lab up. It wrote:

"You may find this student to your interest - - Principal."

Yuki walked to school side by side Fuji. He was trying to give her some tips for her first day of school, the teachers, classes and especially about her try-outs for Seigaku's girl's tennis club. However, she seemed to be in a daze, just blindly following the cheerful guy beside her.

"_Ne… are you all right? I thought I heard you scream"_

"_Your brother kissed me! EKK!"_

"Oh and be careful about the girls in that team. Some can be one nasty gang of, if you may pardon my language, bitchy people. " Fuji trailed on as they crossed the pedestrian crossing, "Don't get too involved. They've got a reputation there."

"_sigh that's not suprising…"_

"_Eh? What do you mean? He became a pervert?"_

"_Ahh, °sou ja nakutte… I mean… erm… you see… hmm…"_

"_He asked you to keep it a secret?"_

"Don't be shy, try to make some friends in your class, ok?"

"_Come to think about it, no, he did no, so I can just spill it out to you since both of us are girls. Actually he has this tiny…no…small…"_

"If there's any problem, you can find me at class 6. If you can't find the class, just look out for a loud, bouncy red-head boy that goes 'nyah'. That's my class. I sit beside him."

"_oh fine, HUGE crush on you since he met you. That's that." _

"Yuki?"

"_Yup. He locked himself in his room for a day after you left Japan five years ago. Although he was smiling, you could see he wanted to cry. That also explains he's weird behaviour like arriving at the airport so early to pick you. So if he tries anything, don't be too surprised."_

"Yuki?"

"_He may be sadistic bu I've got to admit, he does seem to like you a lot. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to promote him or whatsoever. He has tons of girls after him anyway. But if he asks you, just give him the truth. If you don't like the idea, it's ok to reject him. He won't mind much."_

"Yuki… the winds blowing… your skirt's flying. Nice legs"

Upon hearing about her skirt, Yuki snapped out of her daydream and quickly tried to hold her skirt down, realising that her skirt never did flew up.

"Hey. You tricked me!" Yuki pouted. She just couldn't believe he tricked her twice. In fact, tricked twice in consecutive days and by the same person! "Sneaky"

, she tried to stomp on his right foot but it was too slow for Fuji who had more than enough training on the court… thanks to some four-eyed stoic captain who lacks a sense of humour.

"Penny for your thoughts?" deciding they still had enough time to get to school, Fuji stopped at the pavement on the road-bridge. "Or are you still thinking about yesterday night?" All of a sudden, the temperature seemed to drop, making Yuki shiver.

Her eyes widen at the memory of that outrageous trickery. However, she chose to stay calm.

_Any expression or signs of being embarrassed or humiliated will only provoke him to worsen the situation. You and I know that Yuki…and why the heck am I talking to myself?_

She turned to reply Fuji, innocently, feigning ignorance, "What happened? I don't think I get you? Maybe I forgot." She gave a big grin, hoping that it'll help in the lie.

A frown grew on Fuji's face. He placed his fingers on his chin and started to give weird hypothesises again.

"Saa… maybe that dosage of pills was too much." This made Yuki more confused. She didn't remember taking any medications. "Too bad… cos we had a good night together."

"What!" Yuki was starting to doubt what she heard. She couldn't have. No, she thought, she COULDN'T have!

He came closer to Yuki, bending slightly, whispering into her ear slowly, making every word like a dagger piercing through the heart. "It was an unforgettable night… ahh… in the dark. Both of us. Alone." He paused, wrapping his arms around her from the back, bringing himself closer, "I thought you liked it… you certainly looked like you did…"

"STOP STOP!" Yuki couldn't take it no more. She practically snapped. She held her head. She definitely didn't recall taking any pills, didn't recall being in a dark room with him. "I don't remember doing anything with you last night, in a dark room, alone! I only remembered you kissing me on the cheek!"

Her words, unconsciously, were so loud that the people nearby turned to stare in disbelief. Some started whispering among each other, speculating about what actually happened between the both of them, last night, in a dark room, alone. (Bish! author gets hit by Yuki yuki: I din do anything!)

Fuji smiled and stood back up straight again. "So you did remember what really happened last night." He chuckled, "So how was it?"

"Huh?" Yuki looked up at him in confusion before realising:

_Shoot, he tricked me again! Syuusuke…fuming inside_

"Erm… well…well…" she started to fumble. She couldn't quite place her finger on it. Though the kiss did make her uncomfortable, it wasn't that kind of uncomfortable… Frankly, it was the fluffy feeling that it gave that made her so irritated and annoyed. In fact, she was boiling inside at that moment from all his stupid antics.

Fuji glanced at his brown watch. Seeing that she was having problem and that they were running out of time, "hmm…" Fuji thought "wait, funny, running out of time, means I have run there to be on time, or I'll be running. Oh well", he decided to just make it simpler for her.

He groaned in frustration and held her by the shoulders. "Ok. Lets cut it short cos I don't I don't want to be running laps when I get to school." He opened his eyes and looked into hers "Yes or no, will you be my girl?"

* * *

_°sou ja nakutte_, in this case it means "that's not wad I meant" 


	3. Start of the day, Start of the trouble

"Oh well," she told herself out loud, making sure she told herself that, she did it in English so that few would understand her ramblings, "Everyone has bad days. It's not that your tennis isn't good, you know that. You know that you're better than that."

She tried to smile to hide it all. She thought of all the happy things that she had with tennis. She walked with her head up, showing her grin to the world. Stopping at the practise wall some distance away, she started playing… alone. There was no need to think about why she was not accepted into the club.

"_Aw c'mon, she doesn't have the looks to be in this club. She not as pretty as us, not as fast, not as stylish, looks fat, hardly talks… let's not accept her."_

Sure, Yuki thought, like I want to be in that kind of club. Now aim for that corner over there. Yup. Getting better. Your control is getting better. Just need some more practice.

Just then, loud shouts from nearby roused her from her thoughts.

"Seigaku! Fight Fight! Seigaku! "

Curious, she went over to sneak peek a little. She couldn't find a decent path so she had to jump and cross the low shrubs and bushes

"Darn, why are there so many bushes around… oh.. wait," If people didn't know better, they would think that she's gone mad due to stress or some girl playing very advance hop-scotch. "hya!"

Ryuusaki was walking round the court as if searching for someone. "I thought I saw her somewhere around here from upstairs." Just then, she heard a loud 'ouch' from a nearby bush.

Yuki got up, patting herself and looking at the abrasions on her knees. She apparently underestimated the height of the bush, tripped and fell… flat. She took a look around and realised that she had ended up at the courts where the tennis boy's club were practising. There were so many guys. It started her mind ticking: Just imagine if you were standing in the middle there, the stench of sweaty guys would overpower you. Phew. You'll be lying there dead on the floor. Oh there's that idiot, he's doing fine. Maybe you could throw a stone over at his head. She stood there observing the lot practising. She looked a little disturbed though.

"So many flaws," she shook her head and muttered under her breadth as her eyes fixed on the strokes and skill of the players. It certainly brought back fond memories, no matter how the flaws were an eyesore. Then again, who is ever free from mistakes…

"So you're interested in tennis?" A voice boomed from behind her, giving her a fright. She spun around only to find an old… no, let's be polite now, middle-aged woman in pink track suit. She held out her hand and Yuki shook her hand "I'm Ryuusaki-sensei"

Yuki started to become suspicious. However, she kept calm. Was she going to scold her for intruding or disrupting? "Yuki. Nice to meet you. Sorry for intruding but it was just… they just caught my attention."

"Its ok. You're not distrupting them anyway. You can see their flaws? Tell me then since its disturbing you. Its definitely disturbing me." Ryuusaki crossed her arms and looked intently at the student. Somehow, the atmosphere felt tense however, Ryuusaki seemed to be rather interested in what she was about to hear.

Feeling that it was safe, she proceeded in a tactful manner. She didn't want to sound arrogant, on the other hand, people can't improve if they don't know their mistakes and 'cure' it.

"Well, if I may, that guy over there…"

The lengthy 15 minute description of the flaws and solutions of the club left Ryuusaki smiling and at times nodding with agreement with what Yuki said. It took some time before Yuki realised that she had spoken too much. She immediately stopped and apologised for ranting on about their weaknesses. Oh dear, it must have sounded bad for sensei, she thought.

_Finally! Finally, another kid who can spot all those hidden mistakes!_

Ryuusaki took out a file from behind her and started flipping through. It was the file she received earlier in the morning. She managed to flip through the file with less horror than usual. Well, she did say, "Humour me." Guess the file finally did.

"So it's true about what your report from your previous school said about you. Outstanding performance in tennis. This… that…" showing Yuki the portions of the testimonial which Yuki was taken aback, she never thought her previous school could have said that about her. Wait, how did my teacher even know about _those_? All that seems the most important was the last point.. there… Her eyes were stuck on the last point of the testimonial.

"Its ok." The teacher comforted her "Everyone gets that once in awhile. I'm the teacher-in-charge of them. I know. It'll affect your play for a while but be strong and you'll be able to do it. Ii desyo?"

"It's ok if the girls' club refuses you. Besides, I think your being there won't develop you into a better player." Ryuusaki commented as she closed the file just when Yuki was trying to peep at other stuff in it. She added, "I, on the other hand, have an offer for you. My manager and captain seems to have too much work in their hands. How about you be my co-manager?"

The deal seemed so unexpected, sudden. All the weird, astonishing questions seem to come as a shockwave to Yuki that day. Maybe its just a bad day. Maybe someone in heaven was playing a trick on her. Maybe it was a curse. Maybe she should have been gentle with the mirror back in the aeroplane.

"A girl in-charge of a guy's club? But… but that's almost absurd! What if chauvinistic factors come in and no one listens?"

"You mean to say that I'm absurd?" she threw her head back and laughed, "Don't worry. If that comes in, I bet you can handle it or the captain will handle it just fine. Haha. I just need you to help me, help them and in the process help yourself. So deal? Will you try it out?"

She loved the game more than anything else. If she couldn't play or train at full, observing and helping would be close enough to being in the game wouldn it? Watching and learning… sweet…

"There's no such thing as 'try', as someone told me before." Giving a smirk. Her statement seemed to connect with the teacher somehow that she gladly nodded in agreement. "Ok I'll do it."

"Good. Meet me after school at my office."

"Hai. Yes ma'am!"

The school bell rang. Students were streaming into the school corridors. Some were trying to buy some more time, talking to their friends from other classes while standing watch at the corridors. It was definitely noisy, considering the congregation of so many cliques of people down the hall way… especially the two who were travelling at mach speed.

"Nya Momo!" Eiji sped down the corridors and stairs, chasing after the mischeivious sophomore "Give that back! Give back my pack of coookkkkkiiiieeesss!" With his fantastic display of acrobatics, he tried to jump off a few steps hoping to save his cookies. His voice rang through the corridors.

"Fshuu… baka na…" Kaidoh commented as Momo passed him. Kaidoh had stepped out of classto get a breather. Who would have thought he had to give way to his childish rival.

"Oh shut up mamushi… at least I'm the one with the cookies"

Momo turned back and shouted, "Finders keepers, Eiji-sempai!" He grinned and continued running. To Eiji's horror, Momo started eating the cookies as he was making his escape.

"Nooo…"

They raced up and down the floors speeding past almost every class of the second and third years. Tezuka was tempted to intervene and make them run laps. On the other hand, he thought, they're already running laps… so why bother? He went back to reading his literature book, while trying to shut out the screaming outside.

"…Kikumaru seems to run about 5 seconds faster when motivated and Momoshiro's training has paid off. He's endurance has increased… 10..." Inui stood outside his classroom, furiously scribbling on his brand new note book as the duo sped past him. He looked back up to observe, pushing up his thick glasses, "ii data."

"Excuse me."

Inui looked down, over his book. He's scribbling did not stop nevertheless, in fact, it hastened.

"Yes, how may I help you?"

"Where's the classroom for class 1?"

He paused and scrutinised her from behind those glasses of his. "Down the hall there. The last room before the stairs."

"Thank you" She left, leaving the mad-scientist-looking guy to continue his scribbling.

He started flipping to an empty page a few pages after and started scribbling before Eiji and Momo made their 15th… no 16th lap, "New female student sighted in school. Asian but not Japanese. Carries a Head tennis racket (Tri-tech. Series to be further confirmed). Height is around 164 (to be confirmed due to parallex error). Studying in class 1… which is the same class as…"

"Tezuka? The seat beside you is empty right?"

Tezuka put down his book, looking at his classmate, he nodded, before losing himself to the profound context of the book.

"Here, Yuki, you can just sit here."

"Thanks." Yuki took her place next to the window. Looking through her new time table, she took out her pencil case and math book, setting it neatly in the middle of the table. Satisfied with the arrangement, she dropped her head to the table, using her books as a makeshift pillow. Uncomfortable it may seem, but sleepy people who have gone through many difficult questions wouldn't care. Even if they were in the noisy squeaky train or in some haunted toilet, they wouldn't care. She drifted off into her nap before the teacher came in.

Meanwhile… Somewhere in Year 3 Class 6

"Momo baka! All of nee-chan's cookies are gone!" Eiji took went back to his seat all sweaty again. His rescue mission wasn't in vain… well, at least he did manage to get back his cookie container. Just the container.

"Ne, Fuji," turning to the light-headed guy beside the glass window who was admiring the view outside, "did you manage to find another set of dry clean clothes?"

"Yup." Fuji walked over to Eiji, fiddling with the empty container, trying to steal any leftover crumbs, "Apparently I had left a clean set in my lockers a few weeks ago. Now that explains why kaa-san couldn't find my third set of uniform to wash…"

"That lucky! Unya, how did you fall into the river canal anyway?"

"That's what I would want to know too" Fuji mumbled to himself about banana-skins and puddles while returning to his seat to admire the view of students dashing into school through the gate, praying to reach class before the teacher does.

_Saa… I wonder if she's enjoying herself already…_

Yuki couldn't possibly sleep anymore. Not after the five minutes that she dozed off. Some her female classmates had gathered at the back of the class over some magazine, giving ear-piercing shrills and loud giggles. She was bored. She was tired too, so reading her math book was out of the question. Gazing out of the window, she tried to find something that would keep her awake till the teacher came.

"Now that's interesting…" She gave a tiny smirk as she fixed her eyes at the distance… at the school gate "Wonder if they'll get to class in time…" She looked at her watch, it was already 15 minutes since the bell rung. "Guess not."

It wasn't long before the class door slid open. A teacher dressed in a long white skirt and baby blue blouse walked in, the tapping sound of her high-heels trailing behind. Finally, Yuki thought, lets get started with the lesson.

"Ok, and today we have a new transfer student from overseas." The teacher stood in front of the class, leaning her back on the teacher's desk, gesturing towards Yuki. Yuki raised an eyebrow, sensing something… something horrible. "Yuki, why don't you come up here and introduce yourself?"

Though Yuki's face was expressionless due to sleepiness, her heart stopped for that tiny moment when the teacher as her to "come up here and introduce" herself. That was one of the times she wished her heart would stop longer leading to a halt in her blood circulatory, stopping oxygen delivery around her body tissues, killing her in the process, so that she can escape. Too bad, someone, somewhere, decided to be cruel and let her live. _Maybe it's the mirror back at the plane._

She sat at her desk, stoning, not moving an inch while looking at the teacher. She was hoping the teacher would take pity on her and forget about ice-breaking. Too bad, someone, somewhere, decided that she shall not be free.

_It's definitely the mirror._

The teacher walked towards her, ushering her towards the board, "Come on you don't have to be shy. They're your classmates after all."

_This means no escape then. Guess I've have no choice._

Yuki stood up and hurried to the front of the class.

She took a deep breath, and shot of like a bullet train "Good morning everyone. I'm Yuki. Nice to meet you." She gave a quick bow and began to return to her seat as soon as possible. In actual fact, her mind was already firing neurones for her to scramble to the seat.

However…

"Chotto matte kudasai" the teacher added while stopping Yuki from returning to the seat, she enthusiastically asked the class, "Any questions for Yuki, like where she's from or what's her hobby?" Immediately, several hands shot up to ask questions. In fact, the hands were just for show because the class we practically shouting out their queries. Yuki's heart dropped at the sight of the number of hands

"Where were you from?"

"…"

"You aren't from Japan are you? So which part of Asia?"

"…"

"Ne, are you attached?"

_Well, I wish I was attached to a rope that's tied to the tree out there._

If not for the teacher who stopped the Q&A session due to the need to carry on with math, Yuki could have stood there forever, grew roots and leave her skeleton there.

Yuki hurried back to the seat as the commotion around her stirred, centering about Yuki's answers.

"Oh before I forget," The teacher turned to Yuki, "I choose one of your classmates to be your guide for the week. Guardian angel, as we term. He or she will be responsible for helping you feel at home here. Now... let's see…" she schemed the class, before his eyes stopped to focus on the perfect candidate beside her. Yes, the most responsible person in the class, not to mention, she'll have to deal with one less talkative person during lessons, like some certain whiny, cat-like person from some class down the hall… wad's his name again? Kukumaru? No, wait… that's the name of a mouse…

"Ah, Tezuka-kun, would you please do the honours?"

Yuki glanced round the class hoping to see who this person was, before she heard a flat "Hai.", from the stoic guy beside her.

_Err… sure... isn't he going to protest?_

She secretly eyed at him from the corner of his eye, waiting for him to protest. Tezuka simply kept as quiet as he usually was. He bent down to unzip his bag, taking out Literature book and turning it to the last page where the teacher had stopped… matte! Literature!

"Thanks for sharing the book" Yuki said keeping her head faced forward as she walked beside Tezuka towards the canteen.

"Don't mention it." Tezuka replied monotonously, also not turning to face her, as he walked down the corridor trying to ignore the gasps of some school girls. They were certainly getting very irritating with their 'Look! There is he!' or 'Look! He's sooo cute!' All he wanted was some peace and quiet. That's the reason why he hardly comes out of the classroom. Packed lunch was nice, yummy, more nutritious, plus additional mother love.

"You know, you really don't have to bring me to the canteen" Yuki voiced out softly while still walking, "You should just go back to hide out till your training starts"

"Training? How'd-" Slightly shocked at how his new classmate knew about him playing tennis. Did she have an informer? Or was she a stalker or…

"Your tennis bag." Yuki pointed out, as a matter of fact. "It's a club bag."

"Oh."

At that moment, a familiar voice called out to Tezuka. However, this voice not only made him want to make a dash for it, Yuki dared not turn around.

"Yes, Fuji?" Tezuka retained his composture greeting his fellow teamate.

_Just what does he have in mind today._

He stared hard at Fuji, taking note of any usual body language of a scheming plan.

_Same smile, closed eyes, calmness… argh! I can't tell!_

"It rare to see you out he-" Fuji went on trying to buy time so that he can think of something, but someone standing beside him caught his attention, "oh and I see you've got a new friend. You an angel, buchou?" Fuji put clasped hands behind his back, shifting his weight to the right as he looked up to his captain. Yuki swore she saw his eyebrow twitch… just slightly.

"Yuki. Nice to meet you." Yuki quickly shot up her hand straight and smartly in an attempt to distract Fuji from making up horrible things to trick anyone. Fuji was surprised. Not only did she react to counter him, she's acting completely different from the usual person he knew. In fact, her tone and expression seemed a little like someone's usual self

_So if you want to play it this way…_

"Fuji Syuusuke." He shook her hand, "Hehheh. Seems like you've got a tiny replica there beside you Tezuka." Wanting to have a word with Yuki and probably torture her a little in some way, he came out with a bright idea, "You look uncomfortable, why don't I show her the canteen?"

_Code-red._ Tezuka thought. _Not a good idea. Fuji might just scare her off till she goes back to her own country and hide in her closet. _

"Its ok." Tezuka started walking to the canteen with Yuki following behind. Yuki just followed the stern boy. Strangely, she found trouble following her, side by side.

"What are you doing?" Yuki questioned while remaining calm yet seemingly cold.

"Oh. Following you guys to the canteen. I'm hungry too" Fuji sang out cheerily, "Let's say its something called self-invitational." At that instance, Yuki swore she saw his cerulean eyes from the corner of hers and a faint whisper that made her shiver.

"You're going to pay for throwing me into that river."

* * *

A/N: Gomen, I have to stop here for now. The next update may take sometime cos I'm having a busy week. Four tests in 3 days. Really hectic. Dun forget to review. Thanks. 


	4. It starts

A/N: Hi minna! Thanks for the reviews! Its very encouraging for me to here reviews like that! once again thanks! I have just one more paper left for my current exam but nevertheless, i came out with this chapter! hope you enjoy and sorry if it seems a little sloppy!

* * *

The school day was over soon enough. Yuki had to constant pay close attention to what the teacher was saying as it had been years since she even really used Japanese. She gave a sigh as she finished packing her books into the bag. There was still time before she had to meet Ryusaki. She felt she needed somewhere quiet… somewhere where she could be alone… somewhere to take a quick nap. She took her stuff and found herself wondering onto the roof of the school. She took a glimpse around the place. No one. Perfect! She dropped her bag and racket. Straightening her skirt and shirt, she lay face up, looking up to the clouds. Peaceful… serene… She felt comforted as if the world around her was a stand-still. She felt safe… till… 

"Morning koi!" Fuji popped out over her face, scaring her half-dead. Suddenly her stand-still world seemed to spin at turbo till everybody on it flew out into space screaming… but then again… in space… no one can hear you scream… A/N: dun you just love that line

Yuki jerked up in shock before returning back to her original position, "Oh go away!"

"Ok."

"Hey wait," She sat up quickly and peered behind him as she whispered in caution, "You came alone, didn't you?"

"Yep." Fuji smiled, answering with a voice which was filled with such innocence that could have passed off in front of a stranger, "I saw you sneaking up here, so I thought I'd come and accompany my koi."

"Sure… like how you forced me to sit beside Kikumaru during recess and hear him rant like a broken record?"

"Takes one to know one." Fuji replied with a wide smile.

She went back to sleep, drapping her arms over her eyes, "Now go away. Shoo. Scram." She turned over facing away from Fuji. She began to snore lightly as she dozed off.

"You're being very mean. Ignoring me in school like that." He turned her back, shaking her awake.

_Don't you dare sleep. I'm not done with you yet!_

A mini-tug-of-war erupted. While one side was sadistically trying to wake up a sleepy head, the other side desperately trying to stay still and wait out till some certain abomination of evil left.

"Ok ok. If it was about throwing you into the river this morning, I'm sorry ok, ok!" Yuki sat up, patting her torso as her head seemed to sway with the wind.

"What do you think I was supposed to do?"

"Say yes? You didn't have to take such drastic measures to say yes…"

_My foot…_

"I think I'm gonna throw up…"

Fuji's eyes seemed to brighten. He clasped his hands together, "You mean you're pregnant?"

_Boiling boiling…1…2…3…4…5…_

"Joudan… hehhehheh"

"Ne, lets play a game." Yuki tried to compose herself. "Let's see how long we can deceive others that we don't know each other, whoever loses will get a penalty. Whoever accidentally drops the most hints will get penalty at the end of the week." Add pepper and salt to the gist of things so she'll get it her way, she added innocently, "You asked me to make friends right? Just think, how am I going to do that if everyone knows I live in a house belonging to a sadist. Worse, your buchou may ask me to make you run laps around the house or up and down the stairs or even about what is you secret weaknesses! That'll be terrible won't it?" She grabbed his hands, hoping to increase the pepper and salt.

"You've got a point, but the main point is you're already acting like TezukaⅡ, won't people already be scared of... oh wait," Fuji stopped, as if trying to recall something, "Oh, I just remembered what I wanted to ask you." He cleared his throat. "A…are you attracted to Tezuka?" He stared her questioningly as her jaw dropped.

Silence seemed to shroud them as they stared at each other before Yuki burst out in frustration as she him by his bony shoulders and shook him.

"Arghhhhhhhhh!"

Meanwhile…

"Oi, Echizen. Did you hear someone screaming?"

"You ought to clean your ears Momo-senpai…"

Ryusaki walked onto the courts as the club was practising and warming up for training, "Minna! Gather!"

The club members scrambled to assemble in their usual lines in front of Ryusaki.

"Ne Fujiko-chan" Kawamura grabbed Fuji by the arm as his frail body stumbled forward as though he lost his balance, "Daijoubu ka? You seem a little unwell today."

"No problem, just a little dizzy. Thanks." Fuji replied, trying to make his way to the front line.

_She's certainly has no mercy in shaking… oooh… double vision… she's gonna pay_

Everybody stood straight, still and smart, awaiting for further instructions from Ryusaki. It was as quiet as a grave… you could even hear someone from the Gardening Club, not far away, dropping her watering can at the sight of the most horrible thing she had ever seen… a big… enormous… hairy… caterpillar.

"Today, we shall welcome a new member who will help us in our training." Her voice was loud, even those at the back could clearly hear her. She stepped aside, revealing the said person who was hiding behind her. "This is Yuki."

_Damn… not again…_

She raised her hand, which was stiff from anxiety, "Hi." She retreated back a bit. She could have gone more if some spectacled stone was standing behind her. However, she did notice some sick person standing in the front line of the cohort, staring at her. He looked as if he was going to throw up any moment.

A commotion stirred among the club members. Some were in confusion, others taken aback.

_Wait… is my double vision getting worse?  
_

A daring random member raised his hand halfway, unsure of his question, "Err… but sensei, she's a girl…"

"Any problems?"

_It is her… HER! glares_

_Opps…_

"Err no…"

"Alright, if there's no further questions, you shall listen to her training instructions and all if not you in deep trouble, you get me?" She paused to catch her breath. It was not easy screaming like that everyday, especially at that age. "let's continue with training. Tezuka, you take over, what's today's schedule?"

Tezuka stepped forward opening the club log book. With his finger, he scrolled down to the day's schedule, "Challenge a regular. Any takers?"

Hands started shooting out again, this time, in excitement and enthusiasm

"Wow, we're selling hot…" Momoshiro mumbled as Eiji started gawking and tip-toeing to get a better view of the challengers.

"I wonder how many are there…" before Eiji could finish asking, someone shouted out the most unlikely name that silenced everyone.

"Yuki."

Eiji tip-toed even harder to see, using Momoshiro's shoulder as a support, "Mou… Arai's trying to stir up trouble for newcomers again nya…"

Inui stopped his furious scribbling and looked at Tezuka for an answer.

"Sorry but…"

Ryusaki stepped forth and stopped her captain, "It's ok." She nodded at her data-collector, "Put that in Inui."

Yet again, commotion stirred among the crowd.

Yuki turned to her, uncertain about the decision, "Are you sure?"

"We should have enough time. Hey, make it a welcome match then ne? You've gotta earn their respect anyway."

Many crowded around Court E. Some of the matches stopped temporarily as the players were curious about the anticipated match. They kept they eyes glued to the two players as they walked into the courts. Whispers disturbed the already still air. It somehow seemed quieter than usual, yet tense. A few tried to guess the out-come of the match. Inevitably, some tried to bet with each other.

"Hey, brat," Arai tried to taunt his opponent as they entered, "You've got some nerve coming into the guy's team like that."

He tried his best to intimidate her, the fiercer, the scarier, the better. If she would just scamper away, he'd be happy. He hated her and the like. All they did was come in and act as if they were better than the rest. Hell, she came in equivalent to a co-manager! What did she have that he doesn't… who does she think she is… and what the heck is she ignoring him!

"Hey, I was talking to you." Arai grabbed her left arm and yanked her back to catch her attention, he raised his voice "I don't care who you are. I want you to get out of here if you lose, you hear me!"

He was so loud that those around them gawked at his statement. Though this _was_

Arai, they never thought that he'll be that drastic. Yuki gave a quick jerk, walking to her seat by the umpire chair. She put down her towel and bottle, and started to arrange her racket strings.

"Unya" Eiji grabbed on to the wire mesh in front of Yuki. He had dragged two of victims over who were struggling from his grasp… well… more like bear hug "Are you sure? Don't do it!"

Momoshiro struggled free, catching his breathe, he turned serious, "Ne, don't underestimate him. He's quite good."

"E…Eiji senpai… let… go. I can't breathe… cough cough"

"Ochibi! This is not the time to cough. This is serious nya!" Eiji looked down and shook Ryoma like a little puppy before turning back to Yuki, "What if you lose?"

"Easy. I'll leave."

"Saa… gambate ne."

"Thanks guys." , Yuki finally stopped arranging the strings and looked up at them with a reassuring nod, "Just sit back and watch. No worries and oh, Ochibi's turning purple."

She made her way to meet her opponent at the net, leaving the rest to revive the boy.

"See ochibi!" Eiji started shaking the semi-conscious Ryoma, "I told you not to drink too much Ponta! It's making you turn purple!"

"Let's make this more interesting" Yuki stepped forward and lifted her head, looking at Arai expressionlessly.

"Ah?" Arai looked at her from the corner of his eye, his nose high up, belittling her.

"I'm gonna use 4 shots each point to beat you."

They got ready in their positions as the chair umpire shouted,

"One set match! Arai vs Yuki. Arai to serve!"

* * *

A/N: That's it for now! stay tuned for the next chap! 


	5. Food for Thought

A/N: Hi. thanks for the reviews. you've made me guilty for leaving you at such a cliffhanger. So i wrote up something sweet, though i guess the match is a little plain and not as dynamic as in the show. gomen ne! I've been trying to type this out in between by naptimes cos i'm unwell and sleeping alot like jiroh, maybe even beat jiroh too. Oh wellz... enjoy this chappie!

* * *

  


"Game Arai. 2-0!"

Arai had easily taken 2 games away from Yuki in a matter of minutes. As long as he returned Yuki's fourth shot, Yuki would let go of it.

_Just four shots a point…_

Compared to Arai, Yuki's shots weren't as powerful. Every forehand shot that she took was clearly overwhelming. She looked helpless in the face of the stronger opponent. Those rooting for her were starting to get a little worried. Those who were rooting for Arai were starting to get rowdy and over-excited, cheering at every winner made.

"Game Arai. 3-0. Change court."

The players went back to their benches to have a quick drink. The sun had revealed itself from behind the cloud and was now blazing in the cloudless sky. Eiji was able to drag one of the most effective souls to Yuki's bench to coax her out of the one-sided match.

"Please stop this." Oishi started ranting like a mother once again, "He's too strong for you. If you go on, there's no telling what injuries you may get and…"

"Oishi-fukubuchou." Yuki cut him off as she put down her bottle after taking a sip, wiping the sweat off her brow. "We don't go into a match just to quit halfway, neither do we go into matches thinking that we're going to lose when the outcome is unknown. Do you? Well… at least I know I don't."

"Thanks for all your concern. I'm sorry." With that, she left the bench, throwing down her towel and picking up her racket, strolling to the opposite court, passing Arai who was on his way to the court too.

"What's there to be sorry about?" Oishi wondered.

"Feeling the pain?" Arai sneered loudly as if on purpose to show his dominance of the game, "I guess stupid people don't know how to quit."

"Yup, like empty vessels make the most noise." Yuki muttered in English, making Arai furious.

"Don't think because you said it in English that I can't understand, you insolent…" He stopped short when he saw Tezuka observing from behind the fence. The laps that his captain made him run as a result of picking on Ryoma was still etched in his mind. Maybe if he screwed up this time, he'd be running laps for the next few sessions.

Yuki stood at the base line, rotating the three balls in her right hand. Upon choosing, she shoved the other two down into her pocket. She got ready in position to serve.

_Ok Arai-kun… warm-ups over…get ready_

"You know your service is so slow, I can get it with my eyes closed."

"Be my guest."

Yuki threw up the ball, slamming it down forcefully. The serve blew Arai away as it flew past him.

"Ace. 15-0"

_One shot_

He couldn't tell where the serve went. All the saw was some yellow thing bouncing off and past him. "But how…?" he was shocked, "Never mind, I shall get the next one"

"Ace. 30-0"

_One shot_

It went on till Yuki won the whole game based on aces. From then on, the game seemed to be going downhill for Arai. He became frustrated, shouting out whenever he lost a point.

_This can't be. I was winning… What the hell is going on?_

He couldn't take it. It was already bad enough that he was losing… but why does he have the feeling that he's play has become so lousy?

"Eh… she's pretty good" Ryoma commented as he realised the game plan. "Mada mada dane."

"Naru houdo" Inui popped out from behind the regulars, scaring a few of them, "Aiming at his weak points… smart move."

"Eh?" once again, Inui's findings drew the curiosity of those around him as Arai missed Yuki's drop shot. _Two shots_.

_Game Yuki. 3-1_

"To be more specific," Inui paused, pushing up his thick glasses and checking his data once again, "she's aiming at his weaknesses, making him destroy himself. It's not that Arai's play has gone down, just that she has thrown off his timing and confidence."

_Game Yuki 3-2_

"No wonder she sacrificed 3 games…" Momo said as he turned to see Arai hit a lob which landed in the doubles alley, "but then again, "isn't she the weaker player?"

_Three shots_

"Correction. She is the smarter player." Fuji butt in as he was observing Yuki carefully, not taking his eyes off the match, "She's using a double fore-hand now."

"He's right." Inui continued as he closed his book. "Although she's only using 4 shots per point, she's conserving her energy and making every shot a strategic one."

_Game Yuki 3-3_

  


__

After training…

"Do I have to?" Eiji whined as they stopped in front of the brightly-coloured café.

"Senpai," Momoshiro pulled the struggling red-headed into the shop, "You promised to treat if Yuki-senpai wins. You promised!"

"One double-vanila strawberry cone, Eiji-senpai, thanks." Ryoma passed them, settling down on the comfortable seats of the ice-cream café dozing off for a moment.

"Senpais always treat." Momo smiled slyly.

"See!" Eiji struggled more to get away, "You're gonna make me pay for _everyone_ again nya! I only said I'll treat Yu hey…" Eiji pointed out just as he thought he could make Fuji share the cost, he turned around ready to drag someone on board his sinking ship. However, "Weren't Fujiko-chan and Yuki just behind us?"

Momoshiro and Eiji looked at the empty space behind them. They swore the two had been following them all these while since they left school. They looked around the café. No sight of them, not even at the table that Ryoma's sitting and nodding off. Eiji's handphone rang.

"Moshi. Fuji!" Eiji eyes widen as Momoshiro was mouthing to him to ask where is he, "Where are you nya? Are you with Yuki?"

"Well, hehheh… apparently some CD shop caught our attention and by the time we finished, we couldn't find you guys and we have no idea where is this new ice-cream shop you were talking about." Eiji then realised that the three of them had been squabbling among themselves to actually take notice of the two at the back.

Eiji covered his other ear to block out the noisy background noise of the café. "We're at…" However, before he could tell them the location of the place, Fuji spoke again.

"Oh look at the time… it'll be very late by the time we reach home if we met up with you. I guess we'll just have to have ice-cream together some other day. Enjoy your ice-cream with Momo and Echizen ne. Ja -click-"

"Fuji? Fuji?" Eiji clutched his phone tight and screamed into it as if his dear phone just died. "Noo…. Don't leave me to payyyyyyyyyyyyyy…" The other customers in the shop were staring at him, shaking his phone and trying to call someone back.

"Beep. You've reached the voicemail of number…"

In the middle of his cry, he felt a small tug at his right sleeve. It was Ryoma. He rubbed his eye with one hand and held up the menu with the other, "Ne Senpai, have you ordered the ice-cream? I think I want to change flavours."

"ARGHHH!"

  


__

A few blocks away…

"I believe that's Eiji screaming," Fuji held his hand to his ear, "Yup. It's Eiji." He gave a even wider smile as he pulled Yuki along, "Now for our first date. C'mon lets go."

"Mou…" Yuki tugged at his hand, reluctant to follow, "Eiji said he'll treat. I want to eat ice-cream too… where are you dragging me to?"

"Aw… back to your cute self?" pinching her cheeks which we returned with protest, " C'mon, lets go eat better ice-cream at a quieter place where you won't be stoic Tezuka II." Fuji tugged back, urging her to walk quickly, "Moreover you've apologised for shaking me silly already. Come on quickly before anyone else sees us here, my treat." He move along the pavement as Yuki trailed behind hand in hand… well more like she was dragged with a vice-grip, "I've tried the ice-cream at Eiji's already... it sucks."

And off they went to have ice-cold yummy ice-cream while Eiji was sucked dry by his two kouhai.

  
  


Dear Diary (if anyone is reading this, put it down right or you'll wish you've never been born),

_Today started off well although I was thrown into a river and shaken till I almost threw up in front of the regulars and humiliating myself in the process. However, it was our first date. I was supposed to impress her and if I succeeded, she'll agree. _

_First, we had to ditch Eiji and the rest for better ice cream and to save my wallet. Don't get me wrong, I'm not stingy… just saving money to buy prezzies for Yuki and maybe get a new game for Yuuta. _

_We sneaked off to our date at that ice-cream palour that we used to go with Yuuta when we were little kids. That reminds me… I should call Yuuta soon to check if he's been abused by that rotten curly-haired grape. I actually think he spends the whole morning curling his own hair, then after that, curl them some more with his crooked fingers. I guess stubbornness runs throughout his veins. Maybe he's an incarnation of a donkey… maybe a donkey that died of suffocation and turned purply all over… eww._

_Anyway she had lots of chocolate ice-creams while I had coffee ice-cream. I'm so glad I didn't follow Eiji. Now I've got to start saving again. Seeing her happily eating her ice-cream just makes me so happy that least hug her like a teddy bear. But I can't. Why? Cos I'm sure everybody at the parlour would have witness this tensai with ice-cream on his head or a spoon stuck into his eye… or maybe thrown back into the river again when we get home. Oh well patience ne… Saa…but the ironic thing is that after all that chocolate ice-cream, she's having trouble talking. Sore throat. Talk about having a sweet tooth for thick chocolatey ice-cream. Wonder when she'll tell me her answer…_

_Note to myself: Run a check on what she bought at the pet store and who was it for…_

_Extra note to myself: If she bought it for a guy, please remember to exterminate him. _

_Signing off with cookies and cream,_

_Syu-chan_

Fuji closed his leaf-clad book and smiled as he stood up from his study chair. He just couldn't help entering the exciting events of the day while nobody was in the room. He took the book and hid it. He loved to alternate the hiding spots of his diary as this would prevent it from being accidentally uncovered and read out. That would definitely be disaster! Everyone will know his weaknesses! Everyone will laugh at him! He'll be humiliated! His reputation will be ruined! He'll be blackmailed! He won't be Fuji Syusuke the tensai! He won't be able to face the world again! He… He… just got three knocks on his door…

He creeked open the door slowly and cautiously. He didn't want to be caught off-guard and get a direct attack courtesy of that mischievous incarnation of Loki who lives two rooms from his. He still remembered a lizard or two being thrown into his room when he was still in grade school. It took him 3 weekends and a few ants from Yuuta's ant farm to lure it out. Don't worry, he made sure that those ants had bitten Yuuta before. How he did it, well, only he knows. God doesn't know. I don't think God wants to know. Better for Him not to know. He had already prepared an umbrella, a large frying pan, a large metal board and a small fan at the side of his door, each for specific deterrences. He peeked out warily while holding the frying pan with one hand. No one. No one was at the door. All that was there was a small blue box with a tiny messily tied orange ribbon which was very much lob-sided towards the right. Bingo.

"Saa… she still can't tie a proper ribbon up till now." He stood at the doorway with his arms folded, chuckling, "Oh well, let's take you in and see what you really are…"

Fuji inspected the box carefully, looking for any possible traps that she may have laid. Though the box may contain her answer, it may still contain some traps for her amusement sake. Still, even if her tricks made her happy, he shan't fall for it. Simple reason: He's Fuji. No one beats him in sadism. Well unless Yuuta wants too… but that's another story.

He turned the box over and found a small post-it note on it.

"_Syusuke, it's late already so I've taken the liberty to send a trap-free prezzie of what you deserve after today. Oyasumi! Sweet dreams!_

_Yuki"_

Refusing to let down his guard (yes he remembered buchou's fav. phrase), he undid the ribbon gently with his slender fingers and lifted the lid with both hands to reveal …

"A packet of koi food?" He stared, mouth a gape, at the content of the box which was lying in some cotton wool and small marbles which apparently were borrowed from him earlier on.

_Now that explains what she bought at the pet store… but…_

"I only deserve a packet of koi food!"

Fuji frowned. Koi food? It was late indeed. Slightly passed midnight to be exact. However, he just could not take his mind off the koi food. In addition, he kept finding himself staring at the packet of koi food which was standing on his table no matter how hard he tried to turn his back against the table as he tried to sleep.

_Koi food? _He just needed to know what is the koi food for!

  


In the dead silence of the night, when good children are in bed and everyone is fast asleep, something stirred the stillness of the night. No, it was not Wee Willy Winky. W3-san gave up running through the area near the Fuji's residence because he was plagued by a road filled with a series of banana peels, marbles, glue, thumbtacks and nails in a span of one week, placed by three 6 or 7-year olds who shall remain unnamed. Two of whom got warned by their onee-san while the last laughed in her sleep till the next morning. No, it was not the sandman. The last time he tried visiting the Fujis', he got sand thrown in his eyes instead. And, no, it wasn't the bogeyman. You don't want to know what happened to it.

"Psst… ne…-shake shake-"

"huh?" Yuki was roused from her sleep just as she felt something tugging onto her t-shirt. She turned and looked around dreamily to find Fuji kneeling on the floor at the side of her bed, still tugging at her shirt.

"Yes, Syu, what do you want?" she mumbled and slurred without opening her eyes, clearing her throat as it hurt a little from too much chocolate ice-creams.

"What is the koi food for?" Fuji whispered while holding up a brightly-coloured packet which looked dull in the moonlight. He jiggled it a little in front of her.

Yuki opened one eye to take a peek, closing it after seeing the packet, "It's for koi. Some kind of tensai…" She turned over to go back to sleep. However, Fuji tugged back at her shirt once more, making her turn back again.

"What?"

"Yes I know what koi food is for," Fuji brought the packet closer to her eyes, remembering that she was actually short-sighted, he emphasised, "but what is _this_ koi food for?"

"It's for koi…" Yuki replied agitatedly. There was a long silence. She turned back over to sleep.

"But we don't have koi at home." A puzzled Fuji sat on the floor, staring at the little round capsules behind the transparent packaging. He gave it a shake again.

_Argh! He still hasn't gone back!_

She turned back looking more frustrated, "You still don't get it?"

"Err.. no."

"Come closer, I can't speak that loud. Throat hurts." she gestured to him to come closer till the side of his face was just centimetres away from her mouth, close enough to whisper.

Fuji was at all ears. Finally, she was going to tell him something to let him sleep in peace "Yes, what did you want to say?"

"There's training at 7.45am tomorrow. You better go to bed now before Yoshiko-chan comes in to scold you..." Yuki managed to mumble softly into his ear.

"That's it!" Fuji turned to look at her. She didn't answer his question! THE KOI FOOD!

"Oh, one more thing," she breathed into his ear as she was getting sleepier by the minute.

"Yes?" Fuji anticipated for the answer but nothing was said. All he felt was Yuki's soft lips meeting his for a tiny moment before it whispered, "Goodnight koi…"

  


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A/N: K. thats it for now! stay tuned! oyasumi!

If you are wondering who is the sandman, he is sortta like a magical being who sends people to sleep by throwing his magical sand into their eyes or something. ( -- correct me if i'm wrong)

If you are wondering who's Wee Willy Winkie, its a mother goose nusery rhyme:

_Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,  
Upstairs and downstairs, in his nightgown;  
Rapping at the window, crying through the lock,  
"Are the children in their beds?  
Now it's eight o'clock."_


	6. Apples and Oranges

A/N: Hi hi. It's been a long time since I've posted. Gomen. Haha. I'm still stuck with all my revision for the up coming major major exam.

Hmm… I've the reviews and seems that some of the readers have some queries about 'Koi.' Well, gomen for not explaining earlier on. 'Koi' as we all know refers to a breed of fish. 'Koi', on the other hand, also refers to someone that you love, more specifically, your lover.

So since this fishy business (pfft…gets whacked by kurobane) is cleared, let's get on with the plot….

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******

8 years ago…

The morning sky was turning grey, covering the gloomy sun. Children in the streets whined as their mother's dragged them back home. Some cried and had to be carried home. The school holidays had come, much to every kids joy, but the rain just had to ruin everything.

Bang! Little Fuji and Yumiko, who were playing chess, jumped in fright as the sliding door in the living room slammed shut.

"Yuuta…" Yumiko sighed looking up from the chess board to her little brother who had just came from the yard, "How many times have okaasan and otousan told you not to slam the sliding door?"

"I'm sorry." Yuuta bowed his head in guilt as he walked over and sat at the table to have a look at the chess game.

Chess always seem interesting whenever his sister and brother played it. There seemed to be endless possibilities to how the game can turn out. Sometimes Yumiko-neesan would win… sometimes aniki would win. How they win, Yuuta didn't know, but he would sit there and stare at the board as if chess was a magical game. The best part was that when they were taking a break from chess, he could play with the little horsie piece and the castle-looking one. However, that day was different. Yuuta sat in his seat, prodding at random pieces.

"Yuuta," a puzzled Fuji asked as Yumiko started to put the chess pieces back in place to start another game, "Is there something bothering you?"

"Ne… aniki, neesan" Yuuta whined as he swung his legs above the ground, "Why doesn't that girl next door come out to play with us?"

"You mean our new neighbour?" Fuji cocked his head to the side, trying to remember.

"Yea! That one!"

"Yuuta… it's not 'that one'." Yumiko moved a pawn to start the game and turned to her brother "She's the daughter of otousan's friend. I can't quite remember her name. Only seen her once. She's quite shy actually so she doesn't really talk."

"Hontou?" Yuuta squeaked as he wiggled up to kneel on his chair. He couldn't see the pieces clearly. He was too short. He hated his height and had always imagine himself to be taller than his aniki.

Fuji moved his piece and waited. He drummed his fingers on the table and with the other hand, played with his straight hazel hair. "Ne, how come we didn't know?"

"Because you two were out somewhere playing when they came over for lunch." Yumiko stopped to think, "It was that day when both of you were punished when you came home. You were made to pluck out all the weeds in the yard, remember"

"Oh." Her brothers replied in unison. They remembered the bugs and worms that popped out from under the stones. 15 worms, 6 crickets, 7 lady bugs, 4 beetles… and the salt that they tried to threw over them and see which kind it had an effect on. Yet they also remembered something else. They remembered peering through the gate and watching their new neighbour's kid happily reading an English book in her living room. Yuuta and Fuji thought it was so cool! English! She knows English! Maybe she could teach them too!

However, for the past 2 months, she never did talk to them. In fact, they never really got close enough to strike a conversation. When they tried to ask her out to play, she darted back into her house. That was all she seemed to do at the sight of any approaching person. She didn't seem to communicate with anyone else except her parents. Most of the time, they would just see her playing in the yard with a beach ball or riding around her house… alone. They did saw her at the playground once. She was seemed to be contentedly sliding and climbing back up the slide. Yet again, she was alone. There was little that they knew about her apart from her refusing to play with anyone.

"Ne… maybe she's weird." Yuuta casual blabbed out, drawing circles on the table with his fingers, "aniki, let me drink your orange juice, please." He leaned across the chess board to reach for the glass of juice.

"Okay." Turning to a spot away from the mark left by his brother's lips, Yuuta, with both hands, tilted the cup back to drink.

"Yuuta, don't be rude… Maybe she's just too shy to talk, that's all.…" Yumiko pinched Yuuta on the cheek and ruffled his short chestnut hair, making him spill a little of the juice on the table, "Now please go and get a cloth to clean it up." Yuuta jumped off the chair and scurried into the kitchen to get the table cloth.

"And don't run and jump around in the house! You might trip and fall! That Yuuta…" Yumiko sighed before turning her attention to Fuji, "Next time, if you see her, try to make friends with her. She looks lonely."

Fuji jerked up in retaliation, "But"

Yumiko had it all prepared before hand. Before he could rebut, she smiled, "Try, or I'll tell okaa-san that you've been eating sweets in your room."

"B-But that's blackmail!" Fuji stuttered. He didn't like people who keep mum and refuse to talk. He just felt uncomfortable with them. It was as if they didn't like him or silently asking him to 'go away'. Though she looked happy when she was playing, something about her just makes him sad… but he just couldn't put a finger on it.

"Too bad. I'm you sis." Yumiko reached for the white knight piece on the board and shifted it to the left, "Ah… checkmate."

  
  


A few days later, the sky had cleared up after the heavy storm the day before. The Fuji brothers decided to head to the nearest public tennis courts to play that morning. They were excited, especially Yuuta, because their plans to play the week before were put off due to a series of heavy downpour. Innocently, they ran all the way there with their junior rackets and two cans of tennis balls and started hitting right away. The vicinity of the blue-green court was filled with the melodic sounds made from the impact of ball and rackets and the pitter-patter of small feet. They weren't that good at that time so it was normal that they missed the ball occasionally. Nevertheless, they sticked out their tongues and laughed their heads off their mistakes before having fun again.

Time passed quickly and what seemed like 30mins was actually 2 hours. They got tired and decided to take a break on the old wooden bench. Fuji bent down to grab their bottles which had their names written on it in their own handwritting. Yuuta insisted on getting the same bottle as his brother and writing his name on it in the same fashion, copying his brother as closely as possible. Though both looked similar and had "Fuji" written on it, Fuji knew exactly which one was Yuuta's. It was the one where "Fuji" was in scribbles. Yuuta suddenly shifted closer to his brother, tugged at his shirt and whispered, "Ne, aniki! Isn't that the 'weird girl' from next door?"

Fuji lifted his head and right in his line of vision, he saw a girl, in a white shirt and denim shorts, sitting on the dully-painted parapet just across the court. As soon as she realised that she had been spotted, she jumped off the parapet and made a run for it.

_Try,__ or I'll tell okaa-san that you've been eating sweets in your room._

"Matte!" Fuji gave chase, leaving his brother behind on the bench, startled.

It had been 15 minutes and Fuji had not returned. Little Yuuta sat at the bench, hugging his racket. He startled shaking. He was left all alone. Aniki went off. Aniki left him. Just like what aniki and Yumiko-neesan said would happen if Yuuta-chan was naughty. Maybe aniki found out that he had jumped up and down on his bed, trying to be superman or ultraman. Maybe Yumiko-neesan had found out that he stole a can of coke from the fridge and had asked aniki to bring him out and leave him outside so that he can't go home. Gawk! Didn't that happen to Hansel and Gretel! Didn't that happen to Snow White? Oh waita minute… Snow White was brought out to be killed. Gasps! Maybe the killer is coming… Maybe…maybe…

"I'm sorry… sob I'm sorry! Aniki don't go. I prom-mise sniff that I won't be naughty agai-n! I promise…I promise.. sob sob…"

"Yuuta, why are you crying? Did someone bully you?"

Yuuta felt a soft and gentle hand trying to wipe the tears off his face. He opened his teary eyes and saw his brother in front of him. Yuuta lunged forward to hug him.

"I thought you weren't coming back!"

"Don't be silly. Now if you could please help me get my bottle."

Yuuta, still trying to recover from the shock, looked up from Fuji's chest and saw him grabbing onto the wrist of a girl. _That_ girl. She was trying relentlessly to struggle out from the vice-grip grasp of Fuji.

"Don't worry. Just sit down." Fuji motioned her to the chair, "I'll take care of your knee."

She stopped struggling and stared at him for a moment with a confused expression before settling down on the bench cautiously. Yuuta handed over the Fuji a bottle. Fuji took it quickly and slightly pushed up the khakis of the girl. Her knee was bleeding. She had taken a fall during the chase and scrapped her knee, jeopardising her escape. It was only because of the fall that Fuji was able to catch up as he found her sitting on the floor brushing the debris off the wound.

Fuji positioned uncapped the bottle and positioned it above the abrasion that was oozing with blood. "Okay, this will sting a little…", he warned her and tipped the bottle and an orange liquid gushed out onto the bloodied wound and splashing on the girl's shirt, shocking the three of them.

"Orange juice! What's orange juice doing in the bottle?" Fuji turned the bottle to see a scribbled 'Fuji'. "Yuuta…"

"I thought you were going to drink that!"

The girl held onto her stained shirt. Her eyes grew watery and soon…

That was the last time they were going to label identical things by just 'Fuji'…

"Maa maa… You're funny you know that. You didn't cry when you fell down with that bloodied leg, but cry because your shirt is stained. hehheh" Fuji comforted her as they walked back home. He was holding her hand with his left hand and on the other, holding Yuuta's hand, "We'll go home and wash the stickiness of the leg okay?"

Yuuta ran forward and to the girl, tugging at her sleeve, "Ne… Don't cry. I'm sorry, onee-san. I'm really sorry. Don't cry ok?"

"Sh-shirt… S-hirt sniff" She sniffled as she eyed the stain as though staring at it would make it go away. Out of the blue, Yuuta started whimpering and getting all teary-eyed before …

Fuji looked to both sides "Ahh… isn't today just great…" He gave a little chuckle and dragged his two weeping luggage home.

  
  


"Don't worry, I'll just tell her that I spilled orange on you."

"I want to knock! I want to knock!"

"Hai hai, Yuuta. Go on."

Frantic footsteps could be heard behind the maple-shade door. A lady opened the door anxiously. The woman blurted out something in English as she bent down and and hugged the girl.

A small conversation struck between mother and daughter. Probably questions. The usual. Yuuta and Fuji stood there smiling though they had no idea what was going on as they were speaking in English. Fuji just watched her from behind. He loved happy endings. (aww…) He'd never seen her talk so much since she moved in. She was making big actions and pointing to them, ranting on and on. Best of all, she was smiling.

The lady turned her attention to the pair of siblings behind her daughter. Changing her mode of language to Japanese, she patted them on the head, "Why, aren't you the kids of Fuji-san, thanks for bring her back… what are your names?"

"Daijoubu. Just glad to help. I'm Syusuke" Fuji smiled. He couldn't help but notice that the girl was hiding behind her mother and peering out from the back. He waved. She hid her whole self behind and only her dark hair could be seen.

"I'm Yuuta!"

"haha... how cute. Come on in, I've just baked some fresh cookies."

The boys sat at the teak dinning table as the lady brought out a plate of steaming chocolate cookies and 3 cups of hot chocolate. The girl had ran up quickly to have a change of clothes before coming down. She changed into a blue shirt and felt that the orange stain on the white shirt was really a thorn in the eye. It looked horrible! Ekk… I must wash it… I MUST wash it!

"Careful, it's hot."

"Ne… Cho-basan" Fuji stood up and reached for a cookie, "About her shirt…"

"Oh, it's ok. She's always spilling things on herself and falling down. She's very clumsy. Don't worry about it."

_She told her mom…_

"Ne… ba-san, why doesn't she talk to anyone else? I'm sorry, haha, I can't quite pronounce her name." Fuji popped the question that had always been on his and Yuuta's mind. However, Yuuta had been too busy humming and chopping down on his cookie and using the cookie to play with the froth from the surface of the hot chocolate.

"It's ok, most Japanese people have problems with that too. Just call her Yuki. I put that name in so that her teacher can call her." Cho-basan giggled, "You sure are a smart and observant boy."

"Everybody says the same thing too!" Yuuta looked up and mumbled with a mouth full of cookies, "They call aniki a 'tensai'!"

"Ah… so I see." She patted Yuuta on his head again, "Ano... how should I put it… Well, don't you notice anything about how she speaks since we've came in?"

"Well, I don't really know what she said. She was speaking in English all the way and I don't really understand it."

"Exactly." Cho-basan chirped, happy that the young boy in front of her could comprehend.

"Huh?"

_Then again…_

"She can't speak Japanese."

"Hontou? You mean she doesn't understand a single thing?"

"Not really. She understands but just can't speak it. That's why she isn't talking to anybody, because nobody would understand her."

"Sou ka…" Fuji sat back in his chair and pinched his chin lightly before brightening up as though he had an idea, "I can teach her!"

"Oh, but that's too much to ask for…"

"Don't worry, I taught Yuuta how to talk."

Yuuta looked up in puzzlement "No you didn't. Okaa-san, Yumiko-neesan and Otousan did!"

"Whatever. Don't interrupt Yuuta dear… Just eat." Fuji reached forward to take a cookie and put it on Yuuta's plate "Anyway, I've always wanted to learn English. Maybe I can pick up something along the way!"

Thumping sounds were heard. Yuki appeared, drenched, wearing a wet blue shirt and holding the wet orange-stained white shirt.

"Mama, can you help me to wash my shirt?"

  
  


"Ringo" Fuji held up and pointed to a red delicious apple that he took from the fruit basket on his dinning table. He had brought Yuki to his house for her Japanese lesson.

"Bingo!" Yuki smiled and tried to mimick. Unfortunately, an apple is not equals to a number game.

"No no. Ringo."

"Ringo!"

"Good, so that is how you call 'Appo' in Japanese…"

Yuki frowned and took the apple from him. She pointed, "Iie. 'Apple'."

"Appol"

"Ap-ple" Yuki slowly pronounced her words to make sure that he can mimick too.

"Apple?"

_Finally…_

She smiled, "Good boy." She patted him on the head, but to his horror, she took a bite out of the apple. The _last _apple of the basket.

"Hey that's mine!"

"Opps. Gomen." Yuki looked at the apple guiltily and looked as if she was going to cry.

Realising that tears were coming, Fuji quickly comforted her, "Never mind. Let's share it then." He took a bite out of the same apple and held up a pencil, " So what is this called?"

**   
  
  
**

At present

Yuki looked up to see a questionable smile on Fuji's face "Ne… Syu, what are staring at?" They had been doing their homework at the dinning table.

"Betsuni." He continued smiling, creeping Yuki even more

_I'll never let you be alone again…_

"… Right." Yuki decided to go back to her work to distract her from him. Trying to find out what he was up to is just as bad as when he takes action, "Now stop staring and go back to your homework. And finish your apple before all the Vitamin Cs evaporate. " With that she wrote her name on her assignment sheet, 'Cho Yuki'

He chuckled. It was about apples again. Same table, same sitting position.

_Somehow, I wished I haven't taught you how to speak. Maybe then,… oh never mind. I'm not for mushy words anyway…_

  


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A/N: well hope you like it. I hope the next chapter comes out soon. Hehe… I'll pray that I have time. till then ja 

Key-

Baa-san : auntie

Okaasan: Mother

Otousan: Father

Nee-san: older sister

**TBC**


	7. Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn

A/N: Hi guys! Yes once again a new chapter is up. Fortunately I didn't take as long as the last time. Thanks for the comments and reviews. Love ya! Hope you guys love this chap. Muax.

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The school bell had already gone off long ago. Tennis training was starting. The club members were starting their warm-ups, getting ready for the training ahead. Bicep stretch, calf stretch… As they say, doing warm-ups together as a team contributes to team bonding. It not only brings the team together, it plays a part in making the activity lively 

"Maybe if I keeping stretching 20° to the right over a period of say a month, it may increase my flexibility by 20 . Hmmm…"

"Nya, Inui! Stop it with the maths!"

"Ne! Echizen! Can you reach _this_ high?"

"Momo-senpai! Give me back my cap!"

"Baka."

"Whaa! I dare you say that again!"

"Hey, stop it… no fighting, you two. Come on… break it up you two, before buchou gives both of you laps again."

"Yea, stop it... umm… ara? Ah thanks Fu WHA! BURNING! STOP IT OR ELSE I'LL BREAK YOUR NECKS!"

Yup. It's definitely lively and exciting. What made it more bone-shaking exciting was that the day's session involved mainly physical training exercises. And whenever there is physical training there was always…

_Saa…Hehehe yay! Drink drink drink! Yummy!_

"Right!" Tezuka stepped out onto the courts to brief the members on the day's schedule once again as they carried on with their warming-up, "Today we shall have physical and stamina training. First, it is the usual 30 laps around the court perimeter."

"And anyone who makes it after 50 seconds will have to drink a cup of my New Deluxe Penal Tea Version 3." Inui stepped aside with a glint of his glasses, revealing threatening jugs of red viscous bubbling poison on the table. "I blended it extra well to give it a nicer taste."

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and stared at the reddish-pink bubbling mass. The effervescence alone sent shivers down their spine. Crap all the other versions, Inui's tea is still Inui's tea. Poison. It looked more viscous than before. Like… Like… red paint! Maybe it's concentrated detergent or something. Who knows. Well… Inui does…

"Who wants to try some before we start?"

"Not again! I don't want to drink that… no I don't want to!"

"Saa… I want to try some!"

"Stop it, Fuji! Put your hand down! Nya, just look at the bubbles! Remember the last time you took that Aozu!"

"Don't be silly…"

While the ruckus of the drink was going on, Tezuka stood in front of the Table of Horrors (i.e the glasses and jugs of Penal tea) waiting for everyone to get themselves together and finish with their warm-ups. Opening the log book again, he glanced down at the schedule.

" 1500h-1600h Endurance running In-charge: Tezuka Kunimitsu & Inui Sadaharu, Yuki

1600h-1700hMuscle training In-charge: Tezuka Kunimitsu, Inui Sadaharu, Yuki

1700h-1830hDrills In-charge: Ryusaki-sensei, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Yuki"

"Where on Earth is she?" Tezuka took out his watch from his pocket and checking the time. She was late. Something was very wrong. Usually, she'd be on time as always… well, at least for the past month that he knew her. During that month, he had gotten to know her better. They would sit together for recess or study together in the library They were like best friends, only that silence dominated the conversation. Though he didn't really like sitting near girls, he didn't mind her as she would not go jumping at him screaming, 'Tezuka-sama! I love you!' or other weird stuff. He remembered almost got his shirt torn off once because of that. He looked around and saw her running towards them, all geared up for training session.

"Sorry," she panted as she bent over a little to catch her breath. Running was never her forte. If you'd let her choose, she'll choose 100+ sit-ups over running laps. "Ishida-sensei made me… cough run… run round the school to look for him."

It hasn't been easy running errands for Ishida-sensei that day, rather, it hasn't been easy running errands for 4 different teachers at different locations of the school. It was like a baton relay… where there was one runner but different batons at different checkpoints. Running up 4 floors and down again, back up to the 3rd and then to the fifth… that wasn't torture. That was murder. Tezuka understood that like the back of his hand. He remembered spending a whole afternoon during his freshman year running up and down for about an hour passing things to teachers who seem to know when to be everywhere at the wrong time. In the end, Yamato-buchou just laughed and let him go home to rest because he had ran a longer distance than the club during physical training.

All that running had made Yuki very hungry and very thirsty. Her bottle was dry. All she had was a bar of chocolate. She looked peered up and to her delightment… jugs of … drink. "Is that for drinking?" she pointed over. The liquid looked kind of funny, yet cool. I mean, it has bubbles! How thrilling.

"Yes. It's my Inui's Newly Improved Deluxe Penal Tea Version 3!" Inui raised brought one of the jugs closer to her as his think glasses glint in the sunlight. He poured a cup. "Care to try?"

"Okay."

At that moment, it seemed as if everyone there were at all ears. The club was rendered speechless. Some didn't know what to do. Drink? It'll murder her! Then again, without her, they won't have to do her stupid training stuff and all… The regulars stood there, with mouth a gape.

"gulp" Yuki went, just as the rest of them did with their saliva. They waited for the usual dreaded scene. The scene that was clearly etched in their mind, better than any chemical equation, history dates or mathematical equation has ever been. First, the screaming, then dropping to the ground, then the wriggling and finally the wriggling stops… all is silent.

"Ah…" she downed every single drop of it in just a mouthful. The regulars held their breath and waited, observing intently as she raised her cup up to Inui. Fuji was getting worried. It wouldn't matter if it was him, but could she take it? I mean the taste is rather biting….

"That tasted great. May I have some more please? I'm really thirsty."

"Sure."

The others watched in bewilderment as she drank another cup of _it_ and showed no signs of nausea or terror. _She survived_. "Not bad." She put down her cup and noticed that everyone had been stalling instead of stretching their muscles, "What's wrong?" Everyone stared at her still waiting for the Penal Tea effect. Fuji let out a silent sigh of relief and smiled.

The regulars were still discussing about Yuki, whether she'd just fall to the ground. Whenever they passed the table at the starting point, they would try to peek over at Yuki who was sitting on the table with Fuji, taking down the number of rounds they had run. But of course, they would, at the same time, see Inui standing at the other end of the table timing them and, as usual, scribbling in his notebook. Who knew what was ticking behind those windows that rest on the bridge of his nose. The scarier thing was that a smile would grow on his face whenever time was running out. However, the fear would escalate further when he reaches for the container of tea and asks the slower ones to stop.

Yuki sat at the table with her legs crossed, holding up a glass of Penal Tea. She turned it round and again, squinting her eyes as she observed the concotion. It was too viscous to let the sunlight through. It made her wonder what it was made of and why it has caused bodies to pile up at Inui's side of the table.

Yuki looked up as the last person passed her by, "Inui, 4 more laps to go. 5 bodies here. A total of 15 bodies on the floor."

"Roger that." Inui took up his pen and started mumbling to himself once again.

It wasn't long before the remaining runners completed their laps. They cheered before flopping to the ground, catching their breaths.

"Alright! Get up!" Tezuka commanded, "Now Yuki brief you on the next activity."

Yet again moaning and groaning started again. Some of the members had to use each others for support. For about 10 minutes, Yuki stood infront all of them, waiting, tapping her feet. _This is going to take all day…_

Yuki finally succumbed to her impatience, "That's long enough, by the count of three, anyone still sitting on the floor has to drink a whole pitcher of Inui's Super New Penal Tea Version 5"

"It's Inui's Newly Improved Deluxe Penal Tea Version 3…" Inui corrected her in a whisper, before returning to taking down notes again.

"Whatever." Every one immediately straightened up. Even those who looked as if they were dying tried to act as ready as they could and hope that what they were going to do next would be as easy as pie.

"Now. Today I shall train your muscles." Yuki circled them to see how many of them were crossing the line dividing life and death. Not bad, but there's a few who were still wheezing. Oh well…. "Since you've all ran so much, just give me 10 push-ups now."

The boys looked at each other in bewilderment. 10 push-ups! Mercy has been bestowed to them! They threw away their impression of her as Killer Buchou's protégé, Psycho hag, Crazy woman… they felt like they could kiss her and wish that she would take over their physical training from buchou who would torture them to no end after the jog. Immediately, they fell to the ground and started their count in unison.

"One! Two!"

"Matte!" Yuki stopped them, "I have not finished my sentence. From now, whenever you do push-ups, you won't be counting by 'one two or three.' "

The boys on the ground looked up in confusion, turning to each other.

"You shall count as 'O, N, E, One! T, W, O, Two!' and so on and so forth."

Everyone's stomach dropped. There was protest stirring up in the crowd again. Angry guys begin to shout out. Tezuka just sat and wait. Sensei had requested he only stepped in when she was in deep trouble and incapable of handling the situation herself.

"How are we supposed to do that!"

"Are you crazy! There must be over a 80 of them!"

"No. Its less than 50. Trust me."

"Trust you? Hah!"

"Fine. Let's do it together then, since you're so upset about it." Yuki got on all fours before lifting up her knees in position to execute a 'guy's-style' push-up. She took away her right arm from the ground and placed it behind her back, stirring yet another commotion. "So now we're in the same boat. You 'die', I 'die'. Happy now? Let's go."

_Stupid sissys…_

"O, N, E,… One!" Every word said was a push-up done. It didn't take long before it was completed too. Many were lying on the ground after that, wishing they could have their shaky arms amputated. Manz… it felt as if it would never end! And how is she able to do it all with one arm! They looked up at Yuki who had sprang up after the last push-up, getting ready for the next activity.

Tezuka held his composure as got up and dusted his hands and knees. He was beginning to suspect that sensei got her from a mental institution instead of an academic institution. Killer push-ups, drinking penal tea, what next!

"Hmm… It's really less than 50 push-ups…" Inui said as he got up dusting his hands, "Iii data."

Tezuka turned to him and raised an eyebrow. He really didn't think Yuki was telling the truth. I mean, even he would lie sometimes about lap running, like '20 laps is nothing when you concentrate'. The more you concentrate the more tired you mind is! "Oh Really? How many then?"

"49."

"Okay! Now we're going to do scissors kick!" More groans followed. As Yuki said, it was really going to take all day.

  


After training

Eiji was struggling to keep his sliding tennis bag behind him. His shoulders were so stiff that he was walking very stiffly, unlike the bouncy Kikumaru Eiji that everyone knew. The only thing that was like him was his whine.

"Fuji…." Eiji whined as he used Fuji's shoulder as a support, "Help me… I think my legs are jelly… my arms are on the way too… unya… I'm glad tomorrow's a weekend…"

"Maa maa, Eiji. If you continue to put your whole weight on me, both of us won't make it home tonight."

"Hoi?"

"Yes. We would have to crawl all the way back home… or maybe even stop crawling before we reach home. Then we'd look like that ghost from Ju-on…saa… speaking of which, I have an urge to see that film again…" At the mention of the Japanese horror flick, Ju-on, Eiji immediately stood up on his own again. Fuji was smiling at him intently as though he had some hidden agenda. It had taken Eiji 4 months or more to forget about the errie scenes of that show. The crawling long-haired woman… the scary pale kid with terrifying eyes and blood-curling meow… just thinking of it made Eiji's hair stand. Even looking at ochibi scared him half-dead once. He kept imaging ochibi meowing and lunging at him to steal his money for hamburgers…

"Err… I've got something on tonight." Eiji stuttered a little, rolling his eyes slightly upwards towards the sky, thinking of something, anything, "My sister wants me to help her…er… clean the house! Yes clean, so I can't watch Ju-on with you."

"Saa… Who said about you watching with me?" Fuji gave a broader smile, giving Eiji the chills. Eiji tired eyes made a probable last effort to find something to change the topic. The first thing he saw… the bookshop. Perfect!

"Ah! Fuji! I've got a book that I want to buy!"

Eiji dragged his devious friend (who was still scheming) in to the bookshop. The bookshop was one of the largest in the area. With so many books to comment and look at, it would be easy to distract Fuji away from the ghost stuff. Self-improvement… classic novels… Literature…Ah! Animal books! Perfect! Eiji picked up a book from the brown shelves, however, before he was could flip open the brightly coloured book, they heard some familiar voices from behind the shelf. Fuji's eyes immediately widened.

"Ne, this book looks good…"

"Really? Let me see."

Eiji tip-toed to take a peek. He ducked back down below the top shelf, dragging Fuji with him. He gestured to Fuji with a finger to his lips and whispered excitedly, "Nya! Guess who I saw?"

"Who?" Fuji asked blankly, though in his mind, he was already planning the next action to take …

"Tezuka and Yuki!" Eiji whispered excitedly before his brightened expression turned into a ponderous from "Unya… but how come they're out here at such a late hour?"

It took him about two minutes before his eyes was filled with realisation "Could it be!" he bounced on the spot while squatting, like a kid who had found something exciting. He whipped out his red-coloured handphone, "Moshi, Momo? Guess what I saw? Never mind. Don't guess. Buchou and Yuki are one a date! Yes! Date!"

Fuji was in a dilemma. He whipped out his own mobile, intending on messaging her to look out. He hesitated. On one hand, having a very embarrassed buchou could be fun. On the other hand, rumours about his Yuki being with another guy? No one does bad gossips about his family…anyone who does that is guaranteed a long life… a long suffering life. Yuki might not be able to take the scandal and blow her cover and she'll lose the game and… and… oh… hmm… omoshiroi ne…

Yuki picked up another book and flipped opened the navy hard-cover book and schemed through. Expressionlessly, she mumbled, "So what's your count at already?"

Tezuka picked up a different book from the shelf, "Hn. 40. You?"

"25. Too bad…" The dark-haired girl shook her head as she closed her book and put it back, browsing through the rest of the available books on the novel's section, "Now this is interesting…"

For the half and hour since Tezuka and Yuki were spotted, Eiji stalked them endlessly from shelf to shelf and dialing numbers. It all suddenly seemed that Eiji had the strength to pursue his new targets and leug Fuji around with two bags when, moments before, he could barely make it home on his own two legs.

"Moshi, Inui?"

"30. Count?"

"55."

"Eiji… I was reading that…"

"No time nya… they are moving. Brave New World's boring anyway. Eh? Moshi? Oishi?"

"40."

"70."

This continued on for another 10minutes… Before Eiji finally lost them. Great. He gawked from behind the shelf, looking and darting from one side to another.

"Ne…Fuji… where are they?" He finally stood up and looked down at his worn-out friend who had to duck walk around with cramping legs. "And what's all the numbers that they are droning?"

"That's the number of laps and push-ups you're gonna do if you don't stop your nonsense." A voice boomed from behind him, scaring him out of his wits.

_Busted…_

He turned around slowly but hesitantly. He dared not see who was behind him. He only knew that if he didn't turn around, he'd be limbless before he graduates and that would be bad because

He can't do acrobatics/tennis without his limbs

He needs his hands to protect his food from Momo.

He won't be able to escape from Fuji and his Ju-on.

A thousand more other reasons that he can't think of and mention because he's too scared.

Tezuka glared at him as Yuki's eyes were fixed on another person. Fuji. She glared at him indifferently, only to be returned by an unsure smile. Someone said smiles can brighten someone's day. He tried to give her his best smile. It wasn't working. He blew his cover. Well, more like Eiji's voice blew his cover.

_She's still angry… angry… oh no… think of something tensai… quick before she kills you tonight. Save your plan! Though she does look cute when she's angry… hehheh… but that's not the point. THINK!_

"80 laps around the avenue n"

"Chotto matte kudasai." Yuki stopped Tezuka as she put her hand on his shoulder. "Let's let them off and punish them on Monday's training." She eyed him carefully, trying not to give him the impression that she was trying to overrule his decision and thus flattening his pride.

Getting the message that Yuki was trying to send via brainwaves, he sighed, "Ok. Monday's training then."

_Hurry… think of something! AH!_

"Say Tezuka…" Fuji stood up bit by bit with an 'ouch' or two, patting his pants off the dust which he had clean off the floor from all the dragging, "Would you like to come over to my house to watch Ju-on? I remembered you wanted to see it in the cinemas but never got to watch it." Yuki's jaw almost dropped at Fuji's daring question. If no one was looking, she swore she could have pushed him back down to the floor and kick his head.

_That daring little…_

Eiji's eyes lit up. His prayers for an escape were heard. "Of course nya! You can go watch it with Fuji!." He pushed his emotionless captain towards Fuji.

"Fuji… It's late."

"Hoi? Late? It's a weekend! You can always stay over night!"

"That's right. Yuki can come along to my house to watch too."

_Stop making it worse…_

"Yea! You can go along too nya!"

_You're not helping you scarlet twit…_

"Alright. I'll tell my mom." Tezuka gave up. Fuji was right. From the start, he questioned the comments made by the critics about how scary this movie was. He, at the same time, was curious about the storyline of the acclaimed horror flick.

Yuki gave in to the plot and nodded politely, "I'll go give my mom a call first. Please excuse me." She hurried past the squeaky-clean glass doors of the store. She dished out her mobile and started keying furiously.

Beep beep Fuji raised an eyebrow as his handphone gave a little vibration and beeped. He held back a chuckle as Eiji said a quick 'goodbye' and sped out of the store. He took a look at the text message.

"_You short, skinny, little, rotten, fishy-smelling koi!"_ Fuji smiled. Bingo. As expected.

"_What are you thinking? I know you are thinking cos your brain's always ticking, so dun tell me that that was an 'innocent little invitation'. Spill the beans!"_

He hit the send button after he entered a quick reply, which almost made Yuki want to get back to the aisle of the store and strangle him.

"_Saa… I don't have any beans. Mou… how could you say that about me? I'm hurt. Love you always dear. Chuu"_

"_You're so gonna be sorry -dear-. Without sufficient rest tonight, you'll be begging for mercy tomorrow, I can assure you. "_

" _Saa… didn't we agree to do that 'after marriage'? Btw, Tezuka's done." _

Yuki clutched her fists so hard that her knuckles were white. She mentally counted her numbers alphabetically (like in push-ups) and squeaked open the door. She strode over to her friend (yes… friend, the taller one. Now, in her opinion, the shorter one was just an irritating, scheming –add more negative adjectives here- idiot ).

"Why not we meet an hour and a half later at Fuji's house? I believe we do have time to reach home for more comfortable clothes before arriving at Fuji's house to watch the show."

Tezuka agreed. His heavy tennis bag was killing him… somehow, it seemed heavier and her back was aching. He need to shower and change into new clothes. He hated to stink, especially in someone else's house or near the opposite sex.

"Then I'll make a move first. I stay the furthest. See you." He left his two best friends hurriedly to catch a bus.

"Come on, this is going to be fun." Fuji chuckled and put his arm around Yuki's waist, pulling her closer to him. However, she gave a sigh of irritation and tried desperately to push him away. When all else of struggling fails… stomp

"OUCH! MY FOOT!"

  


2030-hours…

Fuji tapped the eject button of the VCD/DVD player once again. The tray slid steadily into the player with the movie disc and the player started to pre-read the disc. He returned back to the peach-toned couch and settled down, grabbing a cushion. He made sure he was squeezed in between his captain and his lover so that skipper won't have a chance to seduce her or she won't jump for cover on the wrong guy when a scary scene pops out.

He believed the latter would be the more likely to happen. As he sank into the soft couch, he couldn't help but feel a tingling sensation in his arms and thighs. He shook it off as just some normal training aftermath and focused on the screen as the film began to roll.

Yuki held on to a bowl of popcorn. She carefully dressed herself in a dark long-sleeved collared shirt and a pair of brown trousers so as to avoid being too casual or homely that would trigger suspicion to the observant Tezuka. Normally, she would just slap on a t-shirt and shorts and sit on the couch like the ruler of the couch. Not now, she can't. She yawned. Late night shows weren't her cup of tea. Though it was only 8.30pm, training had got her all tired to stay still and watch a show. A horror show. She placed the large bowl of popcorn and turned to her side, hugging her pillow. She made sure in doing so, she was pushing Fuji to the other side, making him feel squashed in between Tezuka and Yuki's butt. Revenge is sweet and comes in many forms… munch… much like the popcorn…

Tezuka sat comfortably in his seat, holding on to his cup of hot aromatic chocolate. It kept him warm together with his navy pullover. Warm is good. Bone-chilling feelings were not good, especially during scary movies. Hold on… make that, scary movies and sitting next to Fuji Syusuke, the sadist who can think up of more than a thousand and one ways to frighten people to death, just as bad or worse than Inui's creations.

As the show went on, Tezuka winced a little at the terrifying scenes yet, kept his composure quite well. Still as stoic as ever. He crossed his arms, sat back and watched the show intently, hardly moving. Fuji was smiling and laughed whenever the ghost appeared or someone got dragged away by some mysterious force. Somehow, in his little clockwork, he made the scary show seemed like a mere comedy. That was not funny.

Yuki's pillow was getting higher and higher till she was literally peeping over the edge of the pillow. Her fingers and arms were tired from covering her ears. She was caught in the middle of being ultimately sleepy and seriously scared out of her wits.

The lock of the main door gave a click and Yumiko walked in announcing her presence.

"Oh Syusuke… I didn't know you had a friend….ssss with you." Almost by a slip of her tongue she gave the little stupid game that her brother was playing with the trembling, nodding girl sitting beside him. Yumiko thought she'd needed rescue.

"Hey," she tapped on Yuki's shoulder's making her jump slightly, "Opps… Sorry… you look sleepy, why don't you go up to my room to sleep. Come on." She quickly grabbed Yuki by the wrist and dragged her upstairs. In Yumiko's room, Yumiko shut the door tight behind her and proceeded to pull out a mattress from under her bed. All the while, Yuki was covering her eyes with the pillow, not daring to see where she went, as long as Yumiko didn't run, she'd feel safe. Yumiko set her to bed, reassuring her that nothing's going to crawl out from under the bed or from the store room.

"Mou, gomen ne, Syusuke just loves to watch that show, at the same time, he hates to watch movies alone."

"Never mind." The voice was audible though it was muffled by the pillow. Yuki didn't want to remove the pillow covering her eyes. However, she grabbed Yumiko's arm with one of her hand and refused to let go. "Please, don't do away. Please?"

Yumiko sighed. It reminded of Yuuta when he was a little kid. It was the time where his aniki ran out of ideas for bedtime stories so he read something out from a translated Stephen King's novel. "Yuki… you don't have to be afr-"

-snorezzz-

"That was fast."

  


Next morning

"Ne Tezuka… you awake?" Fuji tried to tug Tezuka's blanket. It seemed like an ordeal to do that. They had fallen asleep on the couch halfway through the movie when Fuji decided to have a Ju-On marathon. Yes. All 3 parts: the prequel, Part 1, Part 2. Fuji did find it thrilling although Tezuka didn't scream. Maybe if he did, Fuji would have enjoyed it better… with a tape recorder.

"Hn.", came a low sound from across the couch. He seemed to have woken up minutes ago, but didn't seem to have moved an inch. Forget his facial expressions, but this early riser hasn't got off the couch even at 9am in the morning.

"Ne… Tezuka, can you move?"

"Don't seem so. You?"

"No."

_Now I know why she didn't want to punish them yesterday._

_Now I know why she said I'll be begging for mercy today._

The two boys stayed stuck in position on the couch, unable to move. Their muscles felt like some resin had harden them to stone. It must have been only one thing…

"YUKI!"

"AH… you called?" Yuki came down from the steps. She gave a yawn and stretched her arms. "What a good sleep! My muscles recovered from yesterday's training already."

  
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****A/N:**

Ah… Yup. That's it for now. About the training part… ano… the scissors kick exercise.. yes, its horrible once you do a lot of them. Your legs would not be able to stand properly. I've done that and been there. haha. Yup. Hope you guys like the story. Reviews are much appreciated. Till next time Ja

Omoshiroi – interesting

Chotto matte kudasai - Please hold on a minute

**TBC**


	8. Grandpa Blues

A/N: Hey hey, I promised a new chappie and her it is. Due to my upcoming exams, I may not be posting a new chapter for a fortnight but I shall try. Hehheh. Gomen. Hope you like it.

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The bus ride was long… and boring. Everything outside the window looked all the same. Houses, houses, oh! Shops! Houses, houses… more houses. 

_Too bad this is not the scenic route. It's a good thing that the seats are comfy._

Yuki was slumped to the left with her elbow on the window still of the bus while trying to keep her school skirt down and hugging on to a plastic bag with a few pieces of cardboard sticking out and a two glue sticks disappearing to the bottom of the bag. It's boring sitting alone in a bus with nothing to see outside. It's equally boring to be sitting next to Tezuka Kunimitsu in a bus with nothing to see outside… especially when he's not dozing off at any moment. He sat next to her and the aisle, reading his new book, moving only when necessary, that is, when he need to flip the page. He was totally engrossed in the book to notice what stop he was at and Yuki had to constantly ask, "Are we there yet?"

Just when she was about to fall asleep, he stood up suddenly and literally dragged her off the crowded bus before the door closed inches behind them. She quickly checked her pockets and the plastic bag to see if everything was in place.

_Phew…_

"Don't worry. Our project stuff is in place. Come on." Tezuka turned to his right, towards a small path, "This way."

It was an off-day for the tennis club. Tezuka and Yuki decided to spend the afternoon completing their project for history class. They have gotten ready all the printed portions of the project on white paper, now all they had to do is paste it on a board, decorate and write their speeches for presentation. It was going to take some time and some peace and quiet, so they decided to complete it at Tezuka's house, since Yuki had some problems about doing it at her place.

It wasn't long before Yuki found herself in front of a very traditional Japanese-like house. It looked rather interesting to her. She had never seen this kind of house, save for in books and on TV. Tezuka took out his small bunch of keys and unlock the gate. The semi-metal-wooden gate swung open silently without a 'click'. This is definitely his house. Even the door unlocked soundlessly. They went into the house and made their way to a brightly lit dinning hall where a large table sat in the middle of it.

"Ah Ojii-san." Tezuka found his grandfather, Kunikazu sitting at the dinning table reading the papers. He gave a quick bow. Yuki followed suit and continued standing behind. Tezuka carried the bag of stuff to the table, "I thought you would be outside playing chess or something with your friends."

"Not today." Kunikazu sighed as he flipped a page, "I'm feeling tired. I see you brought a friend home." He peeked behind his grandson, "Come on, take a seat. Don't mind me, I just need the bright light to read."

Yuki walked over and sat opposite of Kunikazu as he went back to reading his papers. She started taking out the materials and placing them on the table while Tezuka went in to get her a drink. She was careful not to make any loud sound that would disturb the stern-looking grandpa.

_It runs in the family… wow…_

"We've got soda, coffee, tea, water…"

"Tea is just fine, thank you."

Tezuka opened an overhead kitchen cabinet to find a wide range of tea leaves, "What kind?"

"Hmm… anything will be fine. Thanks."

Kunihazu lowered his newspaper to peek over at Yuki. He was quite surprised at the girl's manners. At first, he didn't think that she was any different from the usual average teenager. He found it rare to find such polite teenagers, now all they do is play all day long, run round creating trouble and spewing vulgarities all over. A group of them tried to rob him once in broad daylight. Fortunately, no one robs a Judo master… How hopeless. What's going on with youngsters nowadays? What's going to happen to the future of the nation!

The discussion proceeded as planned till three hours later. Though it was 3 hours, much of the project was completed, only the last conclusion of the speech was to be written. Clearly, they were very concentrated and focused. Why? Because they haven't noticed Kunihazu sitting at the same spot reading the same newspaper for 3 hours.

_How diligent and well-mannered…_ he stared blankly into the newspaper, _What a good quiet intelligent girl... just like our Kunimitsu! How rare…she'd make a good granddaughter-in-law..._

Tezuka put down his brown marker, "Let's take a break first.", he took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Yea…"

"I'm going out to feed my kois." Tezuka stood up and walked over to a basket near the sliding door to his yard. He opened a small cardboard box and pulled out a packet of dried bread.

"You have kois?"

"Ne… they're are cute." Yuki kneeled beside the koi pond and used a piece of bread to tantalise the few hungry koi, dragging the piece from left to right and left again before letting it fall into the pristine water and being devoured by the fastest fish.

"Yea… and please…" Tezuka lightly smacked Yuki's hand as she tantalised the fishes again, making her drop a piece of bread, "don't do that. I had this fishes for years. They're old." he threw in a small piece as the fishes jostled with eat other, "Fuji did the same thing once when he came and that one over there got so tired that it stayed at the bottom of the pond for a week."

"Sorry. I just thought it'll be healthy for them to swim more. Exercise. Like running laps." Yuki sat down on a pebble, remembering her affinity for clumsiness, "How long have you had them for?"

"5-6 years?" Tezuka put his had into the pond and played with the fishes, "Around that. I just find it peaceful and calm play with the kois. They can't talk so they won't scream, quarrel, come to you and start worrying… Hey, why don't you try?" Soon, Yuki found herself playing with the colourful fishes which were sucking her fingertips.

Kunihazu was watering and carefully pruning his bonsai plants nearby while spying on his grandson ranting on about his koi. Being quiet, he normally kept to himself. Ranting was something unusual, especially about his feelings without any attempt of the other party prying. Maybe he could take a shot at it. Forget about all those things he told his grandson about concentrating on school and getting a girlfriend later. When the opportunity is at hand, take it! He put down his scissors and spray can and went inside the house to the kitchen.

"Kunimitsu!" He called out from the kitchen as he opened the tea cabinet "would you help me for a second? I can't seem to reach my box of tea leaves."

"Hai. Coming." Tezuka replied. He's mother always reminded him to help his grandfather where climbing up and standing on chairs were concerned. Strong and tough as his grandpa may look, it's still dangerous for the elderly to start climbing and falling and breaking whatever bones in them. He stood up, and reminded Yuki before returning into the house, "Oh, don't forget that one there, it hasn't eaten any yet."

"Ne… Kunimitsu… it's rare to see you being friendly with a girl" Kunihazu stood beside his grandson as Tezuka was putting the tealeaves into a pot, "How do you feel about her?"

"She's nice, very focused."

"You like her?" Kunihazu followed Tezuka to the kettle across the kitchen, trying to control himself from rubbing his hands gingerly.

"Hn..." Teuzka just gave the question an unsure-so-so nod. Well, he did like her as a friend. She was good company as she gave him a peace and quiet time. The only other friend capable of doing so was Fuji but he had to constantly worry if he was up to something. Unknown to him, his gesture made his grandfather just squeal with excitment inside his old heart.

_Yes… now for the final plan!_

"Why don't you ask her out for dinner?"

"Hn?" Tezuka immediately put down the pot and kettle, curious by his grandfather's sudden question "Why?"

"_Because_ it's getting late and by the time you guys finish and she gets home, it'll be past dinner time!"

"I'm back." Yuki came in as she closed the sliding door behind her, wiping her feet on the floor mat, "I fed that fish like you asked me too. Oh, and jii-san, you left your gardening scissors and spray outside so I brought it in for you."

_See… good wife material. Lesson one: Listen to your husband._

"That's nice. How very kind of you. Just put it in the same rack as the koi food. Thank you." Kunihazu smiled to Yuki, waving a thanks to her. He nudged the younger skinny boy in the chest to cue him, "Go on, ask her. By the way… have you been gaining muscles? Your torso doesn't feel that bony… poke poke Never mind. Go. Go. Shoo before I scold you."

Tezuka poured a cup of tea and offered it to Yuki, who went back to writing the conclusion of the project.

"Hey,"

"Yes?"

_That's it… ask.. ask…_

"It's going to be late by the time you get home, so…" Tezuka glanced towards the counter hoping his grandfather had disappeared so that he wouldn't have to ask her. However, he noticed his grandfather was still there, mouthing the words 'Dinner' again and again.

_Yes… yes…come on… come on_

"Want to stay for dinner?"

Kunihazu's jaw dropped. His blood temperature rose.

_WHAT! 'Want to stay for dinner?' What kind of stupid question is that?_

"Ehem, Kunimitsu?"

"Yes jii-san?"

"Come with me to the living room for a moment."

Kunihazu, holding a bowl of his afternoon snack and chopsticks in one hand, dragged Tezuka to the living room by the wrist before he could even stand up. The old man only let go of his grandson when he was sure they were out of Yuki's sight. He peered over at the dinning table to make sure.

"I asked you to ask her out for dinner" Kunihazu furiously poked Tezuka's head with his index finger repeatedly "and you -poke- ask her to stay for dinner. Which part of my question don't you understand? –poke poke-" It actually was more of a finger-jab than a poke because Tezuka's head did have that 'knock knock' sound

"Ouch. I ask her stay for dinner didn't I? Ouch."

"I said ask her OUT for dinner."

"Well. It's still dinner." Tezuka replied, rubbing the attacked points on his forehead.

Kunihazu glared at Tezuka before finally letting out a sigh of frustration and giving that blockhead grandson of his one whack from his chopsticks. Kunihazu started walking to his room, mumbling as if talking and crying to heaven.

"Kami-sama… Why… Why… do I have a piece of wood for a grandson? What did I do to deserve this… oh kami…"

  


Dinner: 1900h

Tezuka, Kunihazu and Yuki were back sitting around the rectangular table once again as Ayana placed the last dish on the table.

Ayana sat down, wiping her hands on her the table cloth, "We should start. Your father's working late today."

"Hn."

Kunihazu had finally cooled down after sitting in his room and listening to his instrumental music and taking a nap. He thought, maybe his grandson just needed a nudge to go after Yuki, probably like what he did to his own son to go after Ayana. Probably all he needs is a harder nudge.

Ayana paused, putting her bowl down, "So Yuki-chan, how's the food?" She was quite worried that Yuki may not like home-cooked Japanese dinner since she wasn't from a Japanese family (her real family, not Fuji's).

"Hmm! Very delicious!"

"That's great." Ayana smiled brightly from the comment that Yuki gave, "Eat more then. I cooked more than usual, so don't worry about Kuni-chan's papa."

Tezuka choked slightly on his rice at the mention at the pet name his mother called him. He forgot to remind his mother again not to call him 'Kuni-chan' in front of his friends.

Yuki patted him on his back, "Daijoubu ka…? Drink some water." She pushed his galss of water in front of him before returning to her rice.

_See… how caring._

"Yuki-chan, why aren't you eating the dishes? Don't just concentrate on your rice." Ayana urged Yuki to take more from the centre of the table as she noticed Yuki only eating what was in her bowl and nothing else.

"Thanks Ayana-san, but I have a strange habit of dealing with my rice first. Don't worry, of course, I'll eat your dishes. How can I miss out on such yummy food."

Ayana smiled once again. Kunihazu schemed once again.

"But don't you think you should eat them while they're hot? I mean, eating cold food is not only a little bland but also bad for your stomach… don't you agree Kunimitsu?"

"Hn." Tezuka replied, after which, he seemingly took a few more food from the plates in front of him and continued eating.

_You're supposed to put food in her bowl, not eat them! Stupid boy!_

"Ow." Tezuka jumped a little as he felt something come down on his right foot. He looked under the table to see his grandfather's foot near his.

"Opps I'm sorry. Just needed to stretch my legs." Kunihazu faked a chuckle which Tezuka identified as a deadly trademark, "I forgot how much you've grown and how much your legs' gotten longer…"

_and it's pretty useless for such long legs when your head's stuck in a rabbit hole._

Kunihazu retracted his legs to a comfortable position before continuing to eat… with a big frown on his face. The frown stayed there even after Yuki left.

"Yup. Thanks for dinner. See you tomorrow at school. Bye." Yuki stood at the gate thanking Ayana and Tezuka for the hospitality.

"See you." Tezuka replied, before Yuki hurried on her way home, and Ayana and her son went back into the house.

As soon as they closed the door, they heard a loud sigh coming from the couch in the living room. They went over and found Kunihazu sitting there, with his arms crossed, pouting and sighing. He stared in one direction, as if expecting someone to ask him 'what happened?'

"Yes, father…" she laughed and walked over, placing both hands on his shoulder "what happened now?" Sometimes her stern and strict father-in-law could revert back to a kid throwing a tantrum, sitting in the corner and sulking. Nevertheless, they still respected him.

"Haizz…" Kunihazu sighed once more before glaring at Tezuka who was standing beside him, "Why don't you ask him?"

"Ask me what?" a monotonous voice replied as Tezuka sat down beside his grandfater.

Kunihazu smacked his forehead with his palm before taking Ayana's hand in his "I've tried my best, Ayana-chan but your son…" He sighed once more before pointing to Tezuka, "ask him… "

"Ask me what?"

He pointed at Tezuka again. "See what I mean, Ayana?" Tezuka's spontaneously covered his forehead with both hands but it was too late. Kunihazu started jabbing his grandson's head with his finger again, "I always boast to my friends that I have such an outstanding, intelligent grandson. poke I thought that he was so focused in his studies and tennis poke that he threw everything else out of his mind poke… but I was wrong, Ayana! Wrong!" He stood up and threw his hands up in frustration for the second time in the day "He's clueless… clueless!"

He started to make his way back to his room, once again ranting and sobbing to heaven in a long and slightly inaudible voice, "My potential granddaughter-in-law… my potential… gone… gone! Why kami-sama… why? Why do you have to torture an old man like me… sniff What did I do…."

Ayana finally confirmed that her father-in-law's intention was indeed what she imagined. She couldn't help but give a chuckle. The last person she ever thought who would encourage Tezuka to date actually came out with that kind of plan!

"Okaasan…"

"Yes Kuni-chan?"

"Did Ojii-san drink too much sakae just now?"

Ayana stopped her chuckling and stared at her son in bewilderment.

"Err… I think I'll go wash the dishes."

  


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A/N: 

Reviews are much appreciated. Thanks for reading my fanfic and following the chapters. I'll try to get the next chappie up as soon as possible. Muax

Ayana – Tezuka's mom

Kunihazu – Tezuka's grandpa

Ojii-san – Grandpa

Okaasan- mother


	9. Fun and Noodles!

A/N

Ahh... gomen. It's been a long time since i posted. Reason: Writer's block. Somehow i just could get the words out.But don't worry... i'm back, with 3 chapters for you all to read! Thanks for your support during the times where i couldn't get the story going! Hope you enjoy the 3 chapters!

* * *

"Ne…" Yuki tugged from Fuji's vice grip, "Why are we here? I've got lots of work waiting for me to complete…" She stood in front of a giant colourful entrance with sparkling lights, behind it, several tents and stalls that we heavily patronised. "Aw… come on. I need to go home!"

"Saa… it's only one night. It won't kill." He lugged the whining girl to a small booth and paid for two entry tickets, "Come on. You did say you want to come to the fun fair. Anyway… it's a weekend tomorrow…"

Fuji dragged Yuki into the bustling life of the fair. Soon, Yuki forgot about her homework and was busy enjoying herself and her treats. It was crowded at the fun fair, lots of shows to watch, games to play, haunted houses to get scared, mirror houses to get lost. Well to be correct, the haunted house was more like a funny mirror house for the both of them… somehow, the 'live' ghosts were more spooked than them. In addition, the ghosts got lost inside the house and were running around like headless chickens. Clearly, Yuki had forgotten the Ju-on incident, if not the headlines for the next day's paper would be 'Haunted house shattered by screaming girl!'. So now, the headlines would most probably be, 'Haunted House ghosts spooked headless!

They sat on a long wooden bench amidst the bright lights and loud music, taking a break from all the games and other attractions. Yuki held on to a large turtle plushie that Fuji won for her at the dart-throwing stall. It was soft, squeezy and very huggable, the kind that you can feel the warmth as you hold it close to you especially on a cold night. The kind that was so huggable that you can make your boyfriend jealous as he holds a cone of ice-cream. On the other hand, Fuji had a cowboy hat covering his chestnut hair. The hat that Yuki won from a basketball-throwing stall fitted just nicely on his head. The hat was the kind that was not too large or not too small. Just the right size… for your girlfriend to pull down over your eyes to steal your ice-cream.

"Where are we going next?" Yuki took a bite out of Fuji's double-scooped ice cream. Yes, a bite. Even Fuji is amused by the way she eats her ice-cream though then, he was busy trying to push up his hat. They had just visited the 2-hour-long circus show at the red and white tent nearby. It was spectacular! The acrobatics, the stunts and the animals. All excited her except for the clowns. They spooked her honestly. They just give her the creeps. The uncanny laughter, the heavy make-up… and worst of all, you just don't know what's behind that creepy smile, very similar to some familiar someone that she knew… though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. All she could think of, was why that curly hair guy, who was no older than her and dressed in some funny violet shirt, was arguing with a kid for almost spilling his drink on his floral purple shirt. Wait, it was more of scolding and screaming… because the kid was at the brink of tears. Poor kid.

When Fuji was finally able to set his hat straight, his eyes flew right open. At the snack stall stood a recognisable younger boy, standing in between a boy with a ribbon tied to his forehead and another with wavy hair.

"Yuuta!" Fuji stood up, waving to a taller boy at the snack stall. The said boy turned around in response and gasped, before trying all attempts to hide behind his friends. Unfortunately, his older brother knew how to grab hold of people and Yuuta's wrist was soon in Fuji's left hand. "What are you doing here?" Fuji spoke in an eager but innocent voice, ignoring Yuuta's struggling.

"Aniki! Not so tight! Let go!"

"Oh, Yuki, these are Yuuta's friends, Kisarazu-san and Yanagisawa-san."

"Hi."

The three St. Rudolphians (A/N: sounds alienish… oh wellz -shrugs-) dropped their jaws to actually hear Yuki's 'hi'.

"Aniki? You actually rememebered their names?" Yuuta pointed at them dramatically.

"Of course, my dear. I remember your friends' names." Fuji gave a little wide sinister smile, "I even have their photos!"

"What? When did you shoot me?" Kisarazu questioned puzzledly. He double-checked, recalling the times in the shower room, making sure he didn't hear any 'clicking' sound or flashes of light.

"Did you get the good side of me, dane?"

"Erm guys…" Yuuta didn't know how to explain it to them, he hesitated before whispering to them, "how he took it is not the point… cos he took lots of dart board pictures of…"

"Fuji-kun! What a coincidence! Or is it fate that led us to meet? Nfufu…" Mizuki strutted over, taking a sip of his drink as he straightened his purple shirt, he turned to Yuki, " Oh my, are you who I think you are? Yuuta did mention a little about you…"

_Hey… isn't he that guy who…_

Speak of the devil, the person, whom Yuuta was about to talk about, revealed himself. He rushed forward, maintaining his gentle manner, and plopped himself of Fuji, making sure that Yuuta stays where he is. Mizuki has learnt one valuable lesson from all his attempts to chase and trying to speak to Fuji: As long as there is Yuuta, there is Fuji Syusuke. As long as I'm near Yuuta, Fuji-kun shall be watching…

"Yuuta," Fuji frowned a little, "Didn't you bring along that talisman I gave you?"

"Yea. Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm feeling some evil aura all of a sudden." Fuji replied quickly, gesturing over to a bench, "Come, lets go over th"

"NOODLES!"

"Huh?"

Everyone turned back to look. They found an excited Yuki in front of Mizuki, animatedly pointing at him. "You're that Noodles clown, aren't you! I saw you in that circus show just now! I recognise that curly hair anywhere!"

Mizuki was speechless and rather confused. Yuuta glanced over to his giggling brother and stared hard at him. "Was this your idea?"

"Certainly not, Yuuta dear. Hehheh" Yuuta sighed. Apparently, now he has to keep two pairs of claws off his manager. One insane brother was already a handful, taking on his eccentric girlfriend is equals to taking on 3 lunatics: Aniki, Yuki and Aniki, again for disturbing Yuki.

"No, I'm not. It's Mizuki…" Mizuki felt his eyebrow twitching in anger for being mistaken as a clown, "Mizuki Hajime." To him, a proper introduction was necessary. But of course, introducing the great St. Rudolph player, manager of St Rudolph's tennis club and the only rival to Fuji was necessary.

"Mituli?"

_Why do they call me so! sobs mentally_

Mizuki tried again while trying to keep himself calm and patient, "No. Mi-zu-ki."

"Mi… tu…" As soon as she saw fumes coming out of his head, she stopped and waved it off, "Mou… I can't pronounce it… Never mind! I shall call you Noodles and Noodles shall be your name!" Noodl… I mean, Mizuki's stomach dropped as she threw her hands up in glee like some kid who had found a new playmate.

"Yea! Ne Syusuke!" she waved over frantically to Fuji and shouted over, making sure her voice broke the barrier of the loud music, "I've got a new friend! His name is Noodles!"

"Noodles!" Fuji shouted back, "That's a nice name for a dog!"

"Mou, he's not a dog!"

"Then where is he?"

The needlessly loud conversation across a span of 3 metres carried on as Mizuki stomped off after muttering some inaudible words. Yuuta chased after Mizuki to calm him down and make sure he doesn't go all insane and raid the popcorn stall off all the popcorn and cotton candy, or maybe steal darts from the dart stall to throw at someone.

"Ne, Yuuta! Don't forget to come home tomorrow! Nee-san is cooking raspberry pie!"

Mizuki fumed dark and thick smoke as he began squeezing a twisted balloon, that Yuuta got for him so that he won't attack some innocent by-stander but only frighten them. He couldn't be bothered to even twist his fringe. He stood there... crushing the balloon and scheming to get hidden, secret information about his rival.

The couple went on their way, trying to control their laughter. They went round the fair trying to find something more interesting, however, it seemed at evey turn, the stalls and tents appeared rather similar.

"Saa… I wonder what to do now?" Fuji put his finger to his chin. He pushed up his left sleeve and took a look at his watch. The hour-hand pointed at a luminous 9.

Yuki grinned, "Find Noodles?"

"Good idea, but its getting late. Moreover… Yuuta will get angry again. Haha." Fuji gave a chuckle which soon erupted into a loud laugh, a rather uncharacteristic one at that. It took him about five minutes before he finally stopped, wheezing to catch his breathe. He bent over and held on to his stomach as it cramped from the laughter.

"Oh my. And you call yourself a Seigaku regular," Yuki jokingly smacked Fuji's head with her turtle before using it to prod his back, "I guess you'll just have to run more during trainings to get a good stamina."

"You're cruel." Fuji got up, straightening his clothes that wrinkled from all the laughter, poking the turtle back, "Let's go home."

Yuki's eyes widen at the last phrase, "What? B-but I still wanna play…" She hung her head low with a disappointed look, hugging her turtle as she playing with its arms.

Fuji could only give another chuckle upon seeing such a familiar expression, "You never change do you?" He gave a small sigh as he went behind her and gave her a ushered her forward my pushing her shoulders, "Come on, let's go home. We can always go to a festival two weeks later…"

"_I don't want to go home!"_

"_Maa… Yuki… stop grabbing every bar of the playground…"_

"_Yea! We have to go home before our mom's scold us!"_

"_I don't want to! Kouji! Tell them."_

"_Erm…"_

"_Kouji don't listen to her. Yuuta, tickle her!"_

"_NOOOOOOOO!"_

"_Yuuta grab her hands. Oh, come on, we can always come here another day."  
  
_


	10. Death Trick

  


Things in Seigaku were getting a little noisier than usual. It seemed that there were more whisperings going around the school premises, so much that Tezuka and Yuki would prefer to stay stuck in the classroom during breaks and till training. For some strange reason, when they walked down the halls, the chattering would die down as people stared at them or walk away quickly. They knew nothing about it, just that it is rather irritating. It was not because Yuki wasn't curious about the gossip, but it was just that no one will tell. Not even her dear Fuji. He would just smile and go 'Saa… I don't really know' (in other words, 'yes and I'm not telling –shakes finger-'). She tried eavesdropping but it doesn't help if people keep really quiet around you and don't drop a clue. It was certainly about her and Tezuka because Inui confirmed it. 90 to be exact. Yet he denies on all accounts that he knows any content of the gossip, even when confronted by both of them and threatened with 500 laps around the court with alpha counting of numbers (the push-up count).

"So have you figured it out?" Tezuka stood outside Courts A, B and C, looking into the courts filled with dead quiet people which was rather unusual. He could have sworn that they were murmuring when his back was facing them and he was observing Courts D, E and F. He was beginning to believe that when he was turning to Courts A, B and C, the people from D,E,F switched courts with A,B,C because now the D,E,F people were murmuring and A,B,C were silent.

"I tried but to no avail. Not to worry, we'll get them." Yuki stood next to him, writing slowly on a record book, trying to mark the attendance for the day and plan for the next few sessions in neat handwriting. Her handwriting wasn't the neatest as she cannot help but scribble. Once, the teacher thought her nameless worksheet belonged to a guy due to the messy work. Even during English class, her handwriting was close to illegibility as she was too excited by the easy assignments.

"Ne, buchou," Yuki tugged once at Tezuka's jacket sleeve and pointed at a page of the log book to him, "Is this schedule ok?"

"Hn, let me see…" Tezuka, pushing his spectacles up, lowered himself to he face level to take a better look at the book.

At that moment when the captain's eyes were off the court, the small commotion started again, on both courts this time. It was a good thing that they could concentrate hitting the ball while talking and whispering but still, training should be serious. However, Tezuka seemed too engrossed in the schedules to notice.

"Hey look over there."

"Yea!"

"They're standing so close to each other…"

"Who would have thought buchou actually"

_Yes, thought that I actually what…_

"Ne… Fuji, do you think they're gonna… you know…"

"Saa… Let's wait and see, Taka-san."

_Yes, koi? See what?_

"Ne, Echizen, I'll bet 5 burgers with you that"

"Iyada."

"Why?"

"Hoi Hoi! See! They ARE together nya!"

The last sentence made everybody stop what they were doing and stare, mouth-agaped, at Eiji who excitedly jumped, squealed, and pointed at the two. They were stunned by the bouncy red-head's boldness. It was only a matter of minutes before he realised what he had blurted out and quickly covered his mouth… in fear as his captain and co-manager were already in front of him. Well, sometimes it does pay to be playing near the court entrance. Fuji couldn't help but giggle at Eiji's action, however, he thought he spotted a little smirk on Yuki's face.

_Could it be that she…?_

"Yes, Kikumaru?" Tezuka loomed over him. Eiji shivered with fear.

_Oh no… laps! Ekk… Oishi!_

"Erm... Nothing." Eiji squeaked before two expressionless faces and crossed arms. He tried to back away but he was too overwhelmed by fear.

"It's ok." Yuki walked over to comfort the shivering hamster, "You can tell us… or do you have something to ask us?"

"Erm…" Eiji did have lots to ask them rather than tell them. He hesitated. He was between the devil and the deep blue sea. Make that one with spectacles. "Promise not to kill me or the others?"

"Yes, we promise. Go on." Yuki patted him on the back, urging him to say while everyone in the back held their breath, hoping that he would deny everything. Everything.

"Erm.. ok…" Eiji turned lively again as he was reassured from their promise, "You see, we always see you two together like a pair of chopsticks, nya. I mean, if you see buchou, you'll see Yuki. You see Yuki, you see buchou. And… the other day, Ryou over there said he saw you two going out of school together. And Taro there saw Yuki going to buchou's house…."

Eiji continued for a whole 10 minutes, during which people were wishing Eiji would just shut up and stop blurting every teammates name out. Eiji finally ended the monologue with, "Ne… so is it true?", leaving everybody in awe as to how he could say so much and not hit on the nerves of the two in question.

"No, we're not together" Tezuka replied. Eiji look intently at Tezuka trying to spot an tell-tale sign of lying. It the intent look usually makes Tezuka nervous and turn away. Correction: It always work. Everyone knows buchou can't lie. However, Eiji only got back a glare.

"Oh… ok" Eiji whined in disappointment as he returned to the court. Everyone heaved a sigh of relieved before Yuki stopped him and made them hold their breath in terror.

"So… are you really sure everybody you mentioned was involved?"

"Yep… nya… now everybody's going to be so disappointed… why do you ask?"

"Thanks for making our job easier."

"NYA!"

"100 laps for those at Courts A, B and C!"

"50 push-ups for those at Courts D, E and F!"

The both of them stood together, supervising their punishment, making sure that they did no less than they were issued. Yes, no less… it would be better if they did more. Enticing, isn't it?

"No wonder you decided to arrange the guys into specific courts today. I was wondering why you'd arrange those stronger in running to your block and stronger in strokes to mine…" Tezuka mumbled to his co-manager. "Great job, good idea"

"No problem." Yuki gave Tezuka a discreet low five, "Anyway it was getting really irritating. Let's get back to work."

"Angering Tezuka and Yuki is a bad idea… ii data."

"You're supposed to be running too, Inui. So run"

  


2000hours: Fuji's residence

"Ne…" Fuji started whining as he lay on the couch behind Yuki who was doing her homework on the coffee table, "Do you have to be so mean? You said you promised not to kill us?"

"Well dear, you are still alive and talking and poking me in the back…" Yuki replied. She pushed up her glasses and continued scribbling. Since she was at home, she might as well give her eyes some rest from the contacts and put on her glasses instead. However, they kept slipping off her nose bridge, forcing her to push them up once in a while. She scribbled with all her might and joy. The restrain of writing on a log book and record book, gone!

_Muwhahahahaha…scribble scribble!_

"My arm hurts… thanks to you." Fuji mischievously prodded her in the back again.

_Poke poke poke…this is all I can do now…wait till my arms work properly again…hmph poke poke poke poke_

"Your welcome."

"That wasn't funny." Yes. It wasn't. Having your arm immobilised twice in a week is not funny. Knowing that with good rest, it will be alright still does not comfort anyone because you can't get back at the person even if she was sitting in front of you. All you can do is poke.

"I was just being polite." She turned around and pinched his nose before returning to her scribbling "I'll give you a massage after I finished this ok?"

Finally, after an hour and a half of gruelling, she finally wrote her last sentence, threw her pen down, took off her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes. Turning back, she realised Fuji was already soundly asleep.

_Aww… how innocent looking…_

Yes, he did look innocent when he was sleeping. _Only_ when he's sleeping. She sighed and from the cabinet, took out a bottle of medicated massage oil that she got from the pharmacy. She applied it to his arms and massaged it. Feeling how tense the muscles were, she started to feel sorry for him. Oh well… if he's got stronger arms, he can always help her carry the groceries home.

The clock struck two. It was silent as a grave. Fuji woke up. He groggily looked around only to find Yuki slumped on his shoulder, snoozing away. Nobody woke them up. He guessed, his sister must left them there and went to bed. A nap on the couch was reasonable, but to sleep on it for a whole night was just like the hour. Ungodly. He staggered to get up and realised his arms were alright.

"Saa… some kind of massage. Oh well" In his sleepiness, he tried to carry her upstairs, then tried to drag and finally hauled her to the nearest room. His. He positioned his back before the bed before releasing his grip on her arms that were draping over her shoulders. She fell onto the soft bed just as a corpse would onto the mortuary table. Glad that he had accomplished what he had set out to do, he dropped to the ground, all weary, and drifted off to sleep beside his bed.

  


In the morning

The melodious bell chimed through the house rousing Yumiko from her occasionally frantic rummaging of her items. Yumiko was the only one in the household who was awake. She was puzzled as to who it was. Her mother had gone with her father overseas for a while so it couldn't be her. It couldn't be Yuuta, he was staying over at his dorm for the weekend.

She opened the door and held back her gasp, "Erm.. Hi. What brings you here so early in the morning?"

"Syusuke, Syusuke," Yumiko rushed up to her brother's room. He was using Yuki's arm as a pillow. She plucked his head from the bed and shook him, "We have guests! Wake up! Your friends are here"

"Wha" Fuji sleepily peered dreamily through his chestnut fringe, "Who?"

"Seigaku-tachi!"

"Ara!"

  



	11. All cleared and blurry

  
  


Yumiko quickly rushed off to work as she was late, leaving her brother to wash-up and entertain his friends. Well… to be exact: to get them out of the house.

_If they discover Yuki stays here, I'll lose! Ekk! No I shan't lose like that! Never!_

He flitted down the stairs, looking all bright and cheery as usually. Even his bright coloured clothes enhanced that 'happy' effect, covering all lies. His friends were all sitting nice and chatty at the couches. Momo and Kaidoh were, as usual, glaring at each other. Seemed like they went for each other's head again. Taka-san brought a whole variety of sushi. Even buchou was there! He seems a little pissed though. What was so important that he'd turn up? Or what mistake did he make that he got trapped and dragged here?

"Ah! What brings you guys here today?"

"Nya Fuji…" Eiji jumped out from his seat, "How could you forget! We agreed to have a movie marathon for the whole day at your house, remember? You promised a couple of months ago!"

Suddenly, it all came back to Fuji. The horror… the promise… the…

_Oh my… how am I going to… what am I supposed to… get a grip… breathe… think_

"Ah yes… I almost forgot." Fuji cringed a little, "Let me get drinks." He scuttled to the kitchen to make pour some drinks for them and, of course, do what he did best: think of a plan. Fuji paced aroundthe back of the kitchen, away from the eyes of the other boys.

Oishi spotted the flash of emotion and started his routine again, "Do you think we're intruding on Fuji? I mean, maybe he's got something planned and… he might… oh no!" As Oishi was looking at everyone, he suddenly remembered someone was missing! He went on ranting again and whip out his handphone to contact the missing person.

Fuji came out with the drinks smiling. Yes, he indeed had a plan. "Saa… who are calling?"

"Yuki is missing, so Oishi is calling her." Kawamura replied. Fuji crossed his fingers that Yuki forgotten to switch her phone functions to ringer mode after school. No sound.

_Phew… that was close… her phone is still on silent mode…she wouldn't wake up till later…_

He put the crystalline glasses of water on the table, quickly grabbing the textbooks on the table.

_Saa… she's still so messy… phew…_

He tried to shove the books into the nearest cabinet which was big enough. He has now officially cleared everything in sight that has Yuki's name on it. He was about to sigh in relief when he heard some tip-taping on the stairs.

_Oh no…_

To his horror, Yuki appeared in her tank-top and shorts feeling her way down the stairs, clutching the railing as she came down slowly till she reached the foot of the flight of stairs on all fours. She was so quiet and discreet that the Seigaku team didn't notice, not because she decided to remain quiet and sneak down, but she couldn't see very clearly. She remembered her glasses were still in the living room. Fuji quickly picked up her spectacles from the side table of the sofa and passed it to the apparently lost girl who was trying to orientate herself according to the shadows that she saw. He tried desperately to shush her.

As soon as she saw Fuji in front of her, she shot up on her feet, "You!" Everybody in the house, turned to look at the person who shouted. They were stunned.

"How could you throw me into your bed on 2 pillows sticking into my back! My neck hurts! My back hurts!"

"Shh!" Fuji tried to quiet his whiny girl down and push her back upstairs.

_Darn… she's like a baby, cranky without sleep!_

"Don't 'shh' me… and to make things worse," she took out her handphone from behind her, "Some persistent irritating mosquito has been trying to call me again and again, making this vibrate noisily on your side table. Argh!"

_Hn. Finally someone shares the same opinion…_

There was a long silence and an abrupt stop of 'shh' from Fuji. She put on her glasses to find Fuji slapping his forehead with his palm. She, curiously, turned to look and noticed many pairs of eyes staring back at her. She did the only thing she could do. She screamed.

"Maa… you don't have to be afraid. It's just them. See…" Fuji comforted her and hugged her to give her more security, "Calm down."

Yuki sat on the floor, hyperventilating and crying through her words, "I… I lost? No, it can't be… I.. I…" She held her head and shook, acting like some patient that escaped from the asylum

Fuji was frightened. He didn't want a deranged girlfriend. It's a silly game anyway. He just did the best desperate move, "Ok, ok. I lost alright. Don't be like that. Please?"

"Really?" she stopped sobbing, wiping her tears away.

"Yea…"

"Oh thank you Syu!" she hugged him tight. Yay! She won!

_Darn, she tricked me!_

Fuji sat on the floor stunned by how easily he was tricked while Oishi went to get her a can of drink from the fridge. On the other hand, the rest of them (except Tezuka) were having a silent hush-hush discussion at the couch, crouching down as low as possible to avoid deadly cerulean icy stares.

"Nya… who would have thought she'd be with Fujiko-chan. She even doesn't talk to him much and seems to despise him in school! What do you think she did with Fuji yesterday nya?"

"Yea… and just yesterday we thought that she was with buchou…"

"Mada mada dane."

"Fshuu…"

"Shh… not so loud, buchou might send us running again."

"Hn. Glad you know that."

Tezuka sat there with his arms crossed, like a sulking kid, only with the sulking expression missing. He was still pissed at how, a couple of months ago, he was cornered and forced to follow them. He remembered it clearly: the locking of the clubroom door; the flash or red, brown and spiky black; the blackmail pictures… ARGH! And he was so close to escaping from his blackmailer who had forgotten completely! That really pissed him. No one dared to provoke him, not even sit near him.

As soon as Yuki recovered from her stiffling, the whole team began arrowing questions at them. It was a long and tiring process of interrogation which took up 30minutes, 2 jugs of water and 2 bowls of chips. Everything from when they started to their little game were all laid out on the table.

"That sounds so… unbelievable…" Kawamura exclaimed in awe.

"So I guess it's a happy ending?"

"But Oishi…" Eiji tugged at his doubles partner's shirt "How can she not be scared of him, especially with all his weird ideas?"

"Hmm?" Fuji turned to Eiji as if he had heard his question. Eiji flinched and gave a small, scared 'hehheh'.

The phone rang. Fuji squeezed out from between his teammates and jumped out of the couch. He rushed over to the table and picked up the phone. Upon hearing the voice on the other end, his smile grew wider. Everyone present knew that smile. Only one person could put that on Fuji's face.

"Yuuta! Yes? Did that floor mop bother you again?" Fuji shifted himself and leaned against the table and tried to drag his conversation a little longer. It was not often to find times where he was able to talk to his brother like this. "Yes, Nee-san already left for work. So when are you hello? Yuuta?"

Some light scruffle seemed to have taken on the other side of the line and a different voice came through, "Ah… Good morning Fuji-kun…" Fuji rolled his eyes.

_Oh no… not again… oh wait… ehehehe_

Fuji with a new brilliant idea, turned back to the couch where everybody was watching. He looked at Yuki and gestured to the phone and quickly whispered something inaudible to her ear before pressing the 'speaker phone' button.

"Hello? Fuji-kun?" Mizuki called out again. His voice sounded more frustrated than before. He thought that the older Fuji had decided to hang up on him again… for the 158th time. (Inui: ii data….)

"NOODLES!"

"Ack! -click- toot toot…"

From the instance, nobody in the Seigaku team ever doubted the insanity and sadism of the brighty-coloured-innocent-looking Fuji's residence.

Movie after movie, the Seigaku regulars watch intently at the edge of the seats. By judging how they sat in their seats, you could tell the genre of movie they were watching. A comedy will send Momo and Eiji laughing like jackals while a romance story will cause Kawamura and Oishi to tear. Horror movies will, as we all know, make Fuji laugh and Kaidoh to spend an unusually long time in the toilet or somewhere else in the house. Ryoma would just lower his cap with a 'Mada mada dane' though he secretly did that to cover the terrifying sight rather than to taunt his seniors.

Tezuka? He was gone. Much to Fuji's uneasiness, the stoic captain had disappeared from the living room to stow away in Yuki's room to read a book. On the other hand, since it _is_ Tezuka, Yuki should be safe and untouched… with a better and stricter language tutor. The only person unsafe would be Tezuka. One wrong move and who knows what strange pictures of him will pop out at some certain place. –insert evil laughter here-

Yuki was in the room catching up on her Literature book. If only the book was in English, Yuki will be rejoicing. However, her face looked increasingly frowny as she progressed through the book and loads of unknown Japanese words slowly bashed her brains into bits. Tezuka had to constantly put down his book in order to explain the terms to her.

Barely into the 3rd chapter of the new Literature book was Yuki all worn out.

She put down her book, book-marking the page with a joker card. "Ne, Tezuka… I'm going down to take a drink, need anything?"

"Just my water bottle. It's in my bag, just beside the couch. Thanks, its too noisy downstairs…"

"Agreed."

Tezuka is a person who is easily irritated by loud noises. You can easily see it by the way he punishes Momoshiro and Kaidoh when they start their squabbling. He just loved a quiet, peaceful and tranquil environment, the kind of haven he found at home, or while he was camping or up in the mountains he climbed. That crystal clear air where every sound resonates clearly into your head instead of a variety of loud sounds coming from different sources, rushing into you ear canal and trying to squeeze their way through into your head.

Yuki took a long time while she was downstairs. First, it was dear Syusuke's questioning of 'So how's it up there?', the nicer way of asking 'You're not cheating on me, aren't you?' or 'Did he do _anything_ to you?'. Second, it was finding the bag under piles of bags. Third, it was deciding whether to bring up Tezuka's bag since it only contains his navy blue Mizuno bottle. Fourth, another fussy conversation with dear Syusuke, yet again, who had been squeezing in and out of the couch to talk to her. He made sure he put one of his cactus there so that his seat will not get 'stolen'.

"You look tired, are you ok?"

"Yes."

"Have enough rest?"

"Yes."

"Ate your fill of breakfast?"

"Yes."

"Everything fine with buchou?"

"Yes."

"Can I have a hug and a kiss?"

"Hey!"

"Hehheh… joudan."

  
Meanwhile

"Hn?"

Tezuka stood up to return the book back to Yuki's shelf. As he tried to carefully slide the hardcover English novel into the original space, he couldn't help but notice an old photo frame on the uppershelf. Childish carvings of balls and playgrounds filled the wooden sides of the frame, surrounding the photo behind the plastic cover. The photo depicted three young kids posing near a Christmas tree holding up their presents. He looked at the date on the photo. He saw an 8-year-old Fuji with Yuuta. No wonder Fuji constantly thinks of his brother… the picture tells it all about how close they were as kids. Sometimes he just wondered how it felt to have a sibling or two. Strangely, the setting in which the photo was taken seemed a little familiar. The little girl in the photo looked familiar too.

"Hn… where have I… huh?" He pulled the photo closer to his eyes and squinted. He pushed up his glasses and took another look. The tree had a wide range of Christmas decorations. Apart from the usual star on the top and furry stuff all over the tree, an assorted variety of Christmas ornaments hung on the tree. All in different colours. The one that caught his eye was a misty blue globe with golden stars on it.

_hey… wait a second… isn't that…?_

"Didn't know you're one who looks at people's stuff without permission…" Tezuka turned around, finding Yuki walking back into her room, "Here's your bottle."

"Thanks," Tezuka took his bottle, and held up the photo once again, "By the way, where was this taken?"

"Hmm… let me see… Sakura Resort? Yup. Why?"

_Sakura resort!_

The mention of the hot-spring resort suddenly struck a cord in Tezuka's head. It was as if he remembered everything.

"Hn… oh no…."

"Hmm…?"

"Do you, by any chance at all, recognise that blue globe here?" He brought the photo to her and pointed to the globe which was situated near the upper end of the tree, "Here, this one."

Yuki squinted her eyes, zooming in on that small object in the picture, "Of course I remember that one! It belonged to this boy who was too short to put it up there, so I had to boost him up a little!" She started chuckling to herself, remembering the memorable time at that vacation trip, "We almost toppled the whole tree… Tezuka?" She noticed that the team captain was staring at her with his right eyebrow slighted lifted up… something that he hardly did and was thought to be unnatural of Tezuka Kunimitsu.

Hesitantly, his mouth gaped opened like a goldfish, as if he wanted to say something, "ki…-chan?"

Yuki's eyes widen at the mention of that. Only one person had called her that… the only one person she remembered…. "mitsu-ni!"

**TBC**   


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A/N:

That's it for now. Hehe.. Stay tuned! More chapters to come... XD thanks for your support once again! Reviews are much appreciated!


	12. When snow falls

A/N: Ahah! I finally finished this chapter while pondering how I should go about. I stayed up late in the night just to secretly type this out. Hahha. You could call it a late late late late late Xmas fic… but well, Xmas is not the main thing in this fic though. Thanks for the reviews! Hope you enjoy this fic!

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This is a little story about two little ones at a hot-spring & ski resort…

It was not exactly what she expected. When she first heard that her father was going to bring her to some resort at the mountains, she imagined snow falling from the sky, a whole field of clear white snow to play in and make a gigantic snowman as she described as 'A big… big… BIG… BIG…'. The 'BIG' continues till no end up to the point that her mother had to play the 'See-who-can-keep-quiet-for-15-minutes' game in the car. However, when she got out of the car, all she saw was small patches of snow, slippery floor and a clear sky. How pleasant…

"Mom… its hot," Little Yuki was tugging at her light blue sweater, "Can I take it off?"

Her mother, not taking her eyes off her luggage unpacking, replied, "No, you'll catch a cold. Take it off, and I'm going to make you wear more."

"But Mom…" Yuki whined frustratedly, clawing her sweater. Due to the freezing weather outside, her mother had Yuki slap on 4 shirts, a sweater and a coat, making her look like a gigantic furball, thrice her normal size. There was truth in what her mother said about catching a cold. In fact, Yuki's mother could have told her it was possible to get pneumonia but that would cause Yuki to lock herself in the room and never get out. On the other hand, her mother failed to realise that their room had a heater switched on. 4 shirts, a sweater, 2 pants, 2 socks and a heater don't really make a combi, unless you want a sweating furball.

She sat on the cushioned wooden chair, swinging her legs above the ground, clearly getting restless, "What time is Syusuke coming? I'm bored."

"Don't be silly, he's most probably coming the day after tomorrow. Yoshiko-san and Yuuta-chan are recovering from a cold. Do be considerate,dear." Yuki gasped. She had no idea that Yoshiko-chan(Yoshiko insisted on –chan because it makes her sound younger) and Yuuta-chan were sick.

"_Aren't you getting ready, Syusuke?"_

"_Ne… I'm not going just yet…"_

"_Why?But you said we're going to see it snow together!"_

"_Don't worry, I'll be there for Christmas and the snow! Wait for me there! And don't get yourself injured again! Come, let me give you a 'good-luck' hug you."_

"_Err… can you let go already… It's been more than 2 minutes…"_

"_Hold on… the luck is still transferring. Slow transfer rate… hehheh."_

Afternoon came really quick, faster than usual especially when you have to unpack your luggage. Yuki sat in the corner alone, her knees curled up and squeezed against her body. She looked up at the crowded enormous theme playground. The playground was more like a castle of screaming rowdy children, the kind which made Yuki flinch and fear that they'll fall out from somewhere and squash her to death.

'_Remember dear… go make some new friends!'_

Yuki shook her head as she remembered the last thing her mother told her before she left her in this dreaded noisy place. She tugged the sleeve of her sweater and tried to find a comfortable position to sit in. The last thing she ever wanted to do there is make new friends. It would take more than a million dollars to make her open her mouth to even speak. At that moment, she wanted to cry out loud, hoping her mother would come and rescue her from this zoo.

_I know… I must… escape! I must!_

She looked around for those scarily friendly chaperons on duty. None in sight.

_Good. Now for the next plan…_

She stared blankly at the pink semi-plastic tag around her right wrist. It indicated her name as well as her mother's. Any kid wearing the tag would have been easily recognised as a kid from the playground. She gave it a tug. It merely gave a little crumple sound, remaining on her wrist as though it had been untouched.

_Hmm… _

Tug Tug.

_Ekk… no use. Time for back-up_

Slowly and catiously, she sneaked to the counter. Her heart beat fast against her little chest as she got into a small space between the wall and pillar and back-up up against a rectangular pillar. The space was small enough only for a child, no adult would have thought of looking behind that spot. She breathed in deeply, planning her next move. Thoughts of being caught ran through her mind. The screaming of her mother, the mean faces of those adults… those…

"Ouch!"

Yuki apologised anxiously. "Ah! I'm sorr" failing to realise that her voice was a little too loud, she was muffled with a hand to her mouth. Her hesitant and unfocused attention had caused her to bump into another kid who seemed to be in the same plight as her. Hiding.

"Shh…" the boy looked around the pillar carefully, before returning to his position and adjusting his glasses which had been knocked off the bridge of his nose, "Not so loud. Those onee-san will come after us if they spot us. Promise not to make any noise if I release you?"

Yuki nodded. As soon as he removed his hand, he quickly wiped off the damp condensation of Yuki's breathe on his green sweater. Regaining grip, Yuki whispered curiously to the vigilant boy who was busy observing the situation behind the pillars, "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He sighed, returning to his observation post, "One more minute in there and I'll most probably die."

"So you're escaping?" she exclaimed in a whispering way "But that's bad! You aren't supposed to do that." She looked to the other side of the pillar, trying to spot any 'dangers'.

"Then, pray tell, what are you doing here?" Frustrated, the boy turned around, crossing his arms and glared at her. He frowned as he scrutinised her.

"Eh… Escaping? Heheh."

Fifteen minutes later…

"My side's clear… yours?"

Yuki looked around the corner, "Lots of grown-ups and kids registering." The counter girl was hidden behind the crowd of excited children and exasperated parents waiting to put their kid in childcare.

"All right! Let's move out! Yuudan setsuni ikkou!"

"Yuu.. wha" before she could finish her question, her arm was pulled so hard in one direction that she thought it would have dropped off. They sped off with all their might.

After a few stumbles and near-crashes with doors and cleaners, they had ran off for a few metres down the corridor before turning left, right, right and left again.

"It never thought I'd survive. You ok?"

Making sure that nobody was following them, Yuki tumbled to the ground, wheezing with all her remaining energy. It felt as if her lungs were about to explode. Her legs were like jelly.

_Ok? How would you like to be dragged around without warning?_

"Yea… I just need to catch my breath"

"You should practise running you know… it helps. You'll feel better if you stood up" He went over and offered Yuki his hand, "Kunimitsu."

"Yuki" she wheezed, "And I'm not standing up." She shook her head, "You're amazing, remaining so calm all these while. I'm so glad this is over." Kunimitsu squatted down and checked her wrist band tag. He squinted through his glasses before checking his blue band tag.

"It's not over yet." He pushed up his thin-framed glasses and glanced down at his Mickey Mouse watch, "We've got to return there in 2 hours time."

"Ehhh…? Uso!"

The two children wandered quietly around the resort, staying clear from the indoor casino, hotsprings and most of all, the zoo… I mean the playground. The more they explored the vicinity, the more they began to think that the place was boring.

"No food in the dinning area, except for bread and butter…" Kunimitsu tiptoed, peering through the window of the buffet cafeteria, "You want to have some?"

Yuki shook her head at the mention of bread, tugging at her sweater again. She had been feeling rather queasy at the mention of bread lately. Syusuke had been feeding her bread, bread and more bread whenever she said she was hungry. Why?

"Because that's the only thing I can make with butter. Go on. Eat it."

Who can ever refuse such a kind gesture?

At that moment, something bright caught her eye. She shifted her attention to a souvenir shop to far end of the corridor. Kunimitsu saw it too. They started walking to it and were soon gawking at the keychains and bags that were on sale. Yuki followed him closely. The shop was hugeat least to a kid! She was unused to wondering alone in a shop and couldn't keep fidgeting. Her mother used to tell her how people kidnapped children and export them overseas for child labour.

She stopped at one of the shelves and started playing with a soft toy, while Kunimitsu was jumping up and down to get another toy from the upper shelf. Suddenly, something shadowed them from the back, blocking the lights.

They turned around slowly, coming face to face with a smiling shopkeeper, "Hi. Where are your parents? Are you lost?" In a spilt second, they were out of the shop.

"No… not outside!" Yuki struggled as soon as she realised where her new found friend was pulling her to.

"Hayaku! Here!" Kunimitsu let go of her hand and slammed both his hands on the swivel door. He went in one partition of the swivel door and came out just as quick.

"Ahh…yokata" He sighed before hearing some muffled sound coming out from behind him.

_What the…_

"Let me out! sob Let me out." He stood at his spot and stared blankly at the little girl trapped in a partition of the swivel door, crying and banging on the glass.

Kunimitsu set her down beside the swimming pool which was now just as good as a frozen pond, "Ne… will you stop crying already? I've got you out of the swivel door." He sat down on a patch of cold snow before clearing some space for the still sobbing girl, "Don't tell me you're claustrophobic?"

"No, I'm not!" Yuki managed to mumble from her stifling, wiping her tears with her sleeves "Who in the right mind is afraid of Santa Claus!"

"…"

As soon as Yuki stopped stifling, she laid down on the snow patch together with the boy and looked up at the grey sky.

"Its going to snow soon… too bad, I might not be able to see it here."

"Ne…" Yuki prodded Kunimitsu in the side, making him jump a little "so why did you want to… you know, escape?" She waited for a response. The boy looked reluctant to give any answer although he looked as if he was trying to think very hard.

"First, don't poke me in the side." Yuki nodded happily, knowing that she had got a response, even though it was sort of monotonous, "Second, I don't know anyone there. All of them screaming and screaming. It's scary."

"You mean you didn't go with a sister or brother?" Yuki gawked, turning away from the sky to face him.

"I'm the only child. You?"

"Me too! Mom just dumped me there and said 'Go make some friends'." She tried to imitate the way her mother told her those words, making both of them laugh. To be exact, Kunimitsu just chuckled a bit but kept a straight face

"Are all mothers the same? I wonder…" Kunimitsu muttered as he returned to the sky and pondered before his chain of thoughts were distrupted.

"Ne…" Yuki prodded him again, "Have you ever wished to have a brother or sister?"

"Huh?" He scrambled up. He was taken aback by the change of voice tone of Yuki. She sounded more of serious than before. Yet there was something more…

"I mean, it is lonely to be an only child, right? Having to play on you own, do stuff by yourself, spending most of your time alone… then your parents will push you to do stuff and all…"

"…" Kunimitsu looked at her blankly. A soft smile appeared on his face. Slowly, his mouth opened, "How about we be siblings for a day?"

Yuki's eyes widened, "Hontou!" She sprang up, sitting on her knees. Kunimitsu nodded.

"Okay! Then you shall be my oniichan!"

"Eh?"

"Mitsu-ni!"

"…"

_Damn, she's fast! And I thought of having an Onee-san_

"Ara?"

"Never mind." He tried to change the topic to hide his thoughts, "Let's go play at the pool."

_That makes me sound so… OLD! sob_

Kunimitsu picked up a discarded cardboard from the floor, and put it on the surface of the pool, "Here, sit on this."

Yuki hesitantly stepped on the board for fear that the ice might break and she might drop into the icy cold water. After making sure and feeling safe, she got on it and looked up at her new 'onnichan'.

"And here we go!" Before she knew it, Kunimitsu had already gave a hard push on the cardboard, making her zoom over to the other side, "Ki-chan! Watch out for that…!"

"How clumsy can you get…" Kunimitsu slapped on some ice on Yuki's forehead as they returned indoors, "You should always be alert and be on your guard. That's what Ojii-san reminds me every time."

"Ouch." She pushed his hand away, "It would help if you actually WARNED me that I'm going to be sent flying to the other side of the pool where the kerb is."

On one side, a kid trying to put ice on his friend's head. On the other side, a kid trying to get his hand off the bruise.

"Hey, where are we in the first place?" Yuki looked around and realised the surroundings were quite unfamiliar.

Kunimitsu backed tracked a bit and read a sign on the door, "The Common Room." He turned back to Yuki, "Ne, Ki-chan, maybe we…" He stopped dead at his spot, just as Yuki did.

Their jaw dropped in awe. The star at the top was the brightest star they have ever seen. The sparkles and red streamers neatly lined the ends of the branches. There stood the prettiest Christmas tree they have ever seen. It screamed for attention yet, it seemed to be missing a few things. It lacked Christmas globes. It lacked the winged angels and reindeers.

Upon searching for the Christmas 'toys', the two children came across a small toy vending machine with a colourful printed notice stuck above it.

  


_Hi kids!_

_Do you have a toy which you want so much for X'mas? _

_Have a wish you want to make badly?_

_Why not make a wish and help orphans at the same time to get their Christmas wishes?_

_For just 100yen, you can get your own special unique Christmas globes!_

_Write your wish on it and hang it on the tree and your wish may come true! All proceeds will be donated to the Children's Society! Merry Christmas to all!_

_The Management_

_P.s. The higher you hang the globe on the tree, the higher your chance to get your wish! Hurry get the highest spot!_

  


"I want one!"

"Me too!"

"But I have no money on me… Okaasan didn't give me any…" Little Kunimitsu disappointedly pulled out his empty pockets of his brown trousers.

"Chotto matte ne" Yuki said lightly as she searched her pockets to reveal two shiny 100yen coins. "Ahah, found it. Here you go, Mistu-ni!" She giggled a little.

"You mother gave them to you?"

"Nope, I found them at the playground. Tons of things you can pick up on the floors." She stared up at the celing as though she was pondering, before returning back to Kunimitsu, "You want socks? I found some…"

She was cut short as Kunimitsu gave a cry, shocking her, "We have 15 minutes left! I totally forgot about the time! Hurry!"

The little hands fumbled with the coins as they were trying to get the 100 yen coin into the vending machine. The coin went in without a click, going straight into the coin compartment. Yuki tried to crank the handle for a globe but the machine had already 'swallowed' her coin.

"No way! It cheated my money!"

"Forget that! Let's try the next!" Kunimitsu plonked in the last and final coin, and cranked the handle. This time, the machine responded and dispensed a bright blue ball with yellow stars on it. He held up the ball, "I'll share this with you. Grab the marker and write! Hurry!"

"No peeking at my wish!"

"But of course. Hurry!"

They took turns to scribble, writing down their names, finishing off with their nicest scribbles. They took the globe, and turned their attention to the tree. It seemed as though the bottom portion of the tree has been filled with globes since that's about the area an average kid can reach, no matter how he jumped. The only empty space: The top!

Yuki looked up the tree, "Great. How are we going to get up there?"

"Boost me." Kunimitsu said calmly with a straight face.

"What!"

"Hey, hold tight!"

"Stop moving about!"

"Hello, I'm trying to put the globe… oh wait, wait, ahhhh! I'm falling forward!"

"Don't push the tree! Let it go before it falls over!"

"Okay. Ah. It's still." Kunimitsu steadied himself on Yuki's shoulders, "Okay, done! Let's go!"

Together, the kids ran back all the way, making it in time just before their parents reached the playground to pick them up.

  


The next morning…

Yuki was awoken by a shake to her right leg. It felt like a shake. She wasn't she though, nothing really feels like anything if you're wearing 3 layers above your skin. Her mother coaxed to get up so that they can go outside for a walk. She looked at her watch. 9 a.m. The sky certainly looked gloomy outside.

"_It's going to snow soon…"_

She remembered Kunimitsu's words. She shot out of bed, rushing into the toilet, where she climbed the stool to reach the sink for her toothbrush.

_If its going to snow, that means…_

As soon as she was outdoors, she raced out in the middle of what used to be a courtyard but was now just a leafless tree and a few empty pots. She turned around and around, as if trying to find someone. Her search was to no avail. She stood in the centre of the small field, looking up into the sky.

_What's that stinging sensation on my face?_

She stretched out her hands to the sky, just as white drops fell from it, getting heavier and heavier.

"Snow…" She looked at the white icy precipitation that accumulated in her hand. It soon turned suddenly dark and warm at the same time.

"Guess who?"

She pushed away the sweaty warm hands that covered her eyes. She turned around and hugged the chestnut-haired boy who stood there smiling at her, "You made it! You brought the snow with you too!"

He picked up a handful of fresh snow and chirped hesistantly in English, "Of course because I like Yuki!"

"No… Its supposed to be 'I like snow'…" Yuki held up her finger to correct him as his personal English teacher.

"I like Yuki." He chirped again in English, ignoring what his 'teacher' tried to teach him.

"Mou… you're hopeless." Yuki pat off the fallen snow on his head and pulled him towards the building by the hand, "You've got lots to work on in English, you know…"

Syusuke frowned all the way back to the building.

She never saw Kunimitsu at the resort again.

Present

"And here I was thinking 'Mitsu-ni is gone! " Yuki laughed as Tezuka tried to hold back a little of whatever you could make out of his laughter, "You know, you should laugh like this more often. You look cuter that way."

"Hnn…?"

"Yea. Coming to think of it," She pondered for a while, trying to remember correctly, "You were much more adorable back then as a kid. Now you're like a slab of walking ston opps… sorry" She sticked out her tongue. Her eyes fixed at his face to spot any tell-tale sign.

"Don't worry, no laps for that." Tezuka waved his book, opening to the page he last read, "Just this once. The next time I hear anything about stone slabs,…"

"Hai hai Buchou. I promise. Cross my heart …" crash A loud noise came from downstairs where the rest of the regulars were having fun. Some shouts, 'nya's and 'fshuu's rang up the stairway about a broken vase or something. Yuki's expression changed immediately, continuing her sentence with gritted teeth, "and hope THEY die. Please excuse me." She stormed out of the room to take care of some business.

Tezuka pushed up his glasses, watching as the door closed. He shut his eyes for a moment, recalling the time he hung the globe.

_Most probably the only one who saw through…So I guess you got you wish, Ki-chan. I guess mine shall never come true…_

The door creaked open slowly again "Ne… before I go melt out punishments…"

"Hnn..?"

poke

"Ouch."

**TBC**

  


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A/N:

Hope you like the story! Reveiws are much appreciated! Muax!

Glossary-

Hayaku: Faster (as in 'Hurry!')

Yokata: That's great (in this case… that was close)

Oniichan: older brother

Onee-san: older sister

Yuki: snow


	13. When the bullet strikes

**A/N:** Alright guys! Thanks for the reviews! They really give me the motivation and encouragement to write on! Here's a little pre-valentine fic for you guys. I'm working on the valentine day as you start reading this chapter. It'll be up soon! Don't worry! Meanwhile, enjoy this chapter!

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The distinct chime of the school bell made its usual call to denote the end of assembly. Tired and drained, students of various levels returned to their classrooms in an orderly manner, dragging their feet as they went along. The weekly morning assembly by the principal practically sucked their lives out with an injection needle. Slow and painful. For some, it wasn't the boring speech, but the standing part. A few of the Seigaku regulars were fidgeting on the spot, trying to get blood into their screaming lactic-acid-filled calf and shin muscles which have been tortured by their captain that morning.

As Yuki paid careful attention to the principal's ramblings, trying not to miss anything, she couldn't help notice Momoshiro trying to tap his feet, Eiji bending down a little and whispering to Fuji, 'Nya, Fuji… they're cramping!'. Fuji, as usual, was just smiling back at him from the top. However, Yuki could see the words, 'Tezuka is going to pay' written on his forehead, somewhere hidden beneath those chestnut fringe of his. Ahh… maybe that's the reason now that he wanted to keep their relationship secret.

Dropping into her chair, Yuki scrambled to take out her English book from her back. She placed it neatly on the table together with a pencil and went back to massaging her shins. Her legs had become numbed halfway through the speech and 'oniichan' had to help her back. As expected, Tezuka's fangirls were glaring at her. But of course, she could not go "Oniichan! I can't feel my legs! Help!" to the guy beside her. The fangirls will kill her and he'll save her and bring her to the brink of death again. Dying twice does not help. In any case, Fuji will be secretly laughing at Tezuka's predicament of getting stared at, just that he'll have to plan an extra step for revenge for the second situation.

The wooden door slid open abruptly startling the class. The English teacher came in with a wide cheery smile on her face. Strangely, she walked in with just a textbook rather than her usual stack of books.

_Good she hasn't marked the assignments! I can hand it up later Ouch._

The class rose to their feet to greet the Ms Aoi. Yuki stumbled a little due to the numbness. Luckily, she was able to grip the table fast enough. As soon as everybody sat down, Yuki bent down to massage her legs again. She made sure she could hear the teacher clearly by poking her head out from under the table once in a while.

"Okay. Minna-san!" Ms Aoi clapped her hands to gain the class' attention "As we all know from the principal's speech this morning, your timetable will be changed. For every Tuesday's lesson, starting from today, we shall proceed to the mini-lecture hall for combine lessons with Class 2 and 6."

_What?_

Bong! Everybody turned back to look at the table beside Tezuka's, where the source of the loud sound came from. Yuki emerged from under the desk, turning her attention to the teacher for further attention.

There was still 10 minutes before the start of class. The students sat in the hall excitedly, chatting with their friends from across the classes. Elaborate, exaggerated hand gestures, loud laughter, giggling, gossips… you could find almost every topic in the world there. However, from the very moment she put her foot into lecture theatre 1, she had a very uneasy feeling, nevertheless, she kept her usual school composture: calm, quiet and almost expressionless. It wasn't the fact that she hated these boring mass lectures. It wasn't the fact that she didn't like the squeezy conditions of the hall. It wasn't because Tezuka was sitting on her right and on the right of Tezuka sar Oishi, who began to worry a little. The main problem was…

beep

_Saa… Ohayo koi! My my, aren't you a little sticky to buchou-san. I'm jealous Don't go cheating on me ne? By the way, Eiji says ' hi nya!'. Love you! hugs and kisses_

She looked up from her handphone and started moving back and forth, looking around the hall. Then she spotted it… or them. Looking back at her from the top was an innocently smiling boy and a frantically waving, grinning red-head.

beep

_Hi Eiji._

Fuji frowned and pouted, looking to the lower rows at his love. Eiji was just plain happy that someone said 'hi' back

beep

_Gasp Are you ignoring me, koi? I'm hurt. sobs And I thought there was something special from the nights we've spent together Btw, Eiji asks you to pass a message to Oishi:…_

Yuki looked at the message and cocked her head. She finally gave up trying to understand the message and passed her phone to Oishi. Maybe the Golden Pair had some special message or code or something like that. The vice-captain turned a little pale upon seeing the message. He broke into a sweat and returned the phone back to Yuki.

beep

_What did you guys do? Oh my god, you two should not be doing such things! You should be studying and working hard. I mean, what happens if 'something' happens to Yuki? And Yuki, you're at the losing end! Your future will be ruined …. (continues to span 3 sms pages)_

beep

_Hoi Oishi! Who did what? OH! You mean THEM?_

beep

_Saa… Oishi, I think you accidentally sent it to Eiji instead. Why don't you ask Yuki yourself… she's nearer to you. _

Oishi was about to lean past Tezuka, to tap Yuki on the shoulder when the teacher stepped into the hall, silencing the room of boom boxes. Suddenly it felt as if all the loudspeakers have been fried. Everybody sat up straight and looked at the teacher intently as she started lessons proper. However, fingers still jab the phone buttons furiously to convey their messages.

  


"Oishi don't listen to him. He's just spewing rubbish. Stop encouraging him. Stop worrying! It's no good for your heart."

"Go Yuki-chan! Hoi! When you guys have a kid, I want to be the godpa nya"

"Syusuke, shut up. Stop making it worse."

"Are you sure? You need not be afraid to tell me anything. I'll keep it a secret. Fuji is my good friend but if he did something wrong, it's still wrong! ….(continues)"

"Saa… what did I do? angelic smile I merely spoke the truth."

"Oishi… I did nothing with him. We only did homework together in our room…"

"Eiji, make Fuji stop this nonsense this instant or you'll be sure NOT to have any godkids."

"'Our room'? You two share a room!"

"Mou... Koi, instigating my best friend against me? I leave you alone for a few hours and you came back like this? How naughty… seems like somebody needs some discipline."

"Opps. I meant 'our rooms'. We don't sleep together. Stop worrying yourself by inferring too much in what I type. And before you ask again, yes, its homework, the kind where you write in a book with pen and hand it up to teacher the next day."

"Eiji, you know anything about them? They refuse to tell me anything! They're hiding something! Eiji, you must tell me… YOU MUST!"

"Go tell that to the mirror Fuji Syusuke."

"Nya, stop being a worry wart. Don't you think its sweet? Aww…"

"Minna. This is your Buchou here. Please stop messaging during lessons. 40 laps during training later."

"Even me, mitsu-ni? poke"

"Yes, Yuki. And you don't have to message me when I'm sitting beside you. 50 laps."

"Psst… Oishi! Buchou is being mean!"

"Kikumaru. 50 laps."

"Hmph. Meanie. XP"

"70."

  


Directing their attention to the front of the hall, they realised that the teacher was taking down votes for something. People raising their hands as specific names were called.

"Okay! The majority chose Tezuka-san! Congratulations to Tezuka-san for the role! Gambate!" The teacher said encouraginly as she rubbed off the votes and wrote down another few names on the board again as people began shouting out their nominees.

"…"

"Ara?" Yuki looked around puzzledly as she wasn't paying attention to the teacher earlier on, "A play? What's the story?" that moment she thought she heard Eiji frantically screaming out Fuji's name.

"Yes. A Valentine's Day play to be exact. It incorporates our usage of English with the special occasion." Tezuka scribbled something on his book before continuing, "The main gist: It a fictional story that takes place in Imperial Japan where the emperor arranged his daughter's marriage with his top general, a stern and strict person" He paused and continued mumbling unhappily, reading the lines from his book. "She, being reluctant, went out to her balcony one night and falls in love with a ninja who accidentally appears at her room. And the rest of the story's on this." He handed Yuki a stack of worksheets that was being passed down from the back of the class. Yuki took a copy of the white sheet of papers and started looking through it. On it was the neatly typed out story of the play. It seemed that the teacher also wanted them to write a literature essay on it. Yuki took out her notebook and made a note. As her workspace was too squeezy, she accidentally elbowed Tezuka who was also jotting down his homework in his notebook.

"Ah sorry." Yuki apologised quickly Realising that she had caused him to have a stray pen mark, she grabbed a bottle of correction fluid for him. However, Tezuka felt rather surprised than embarrassed.

_Hn? Why haven't I noticed this before?_

Yuki raised an eyebrow "And you just got the role of…?"

"The Emperor's top general, Homura." Tezuka growled softly, "I hate these plays."

Yuki patted Tezuka on the shoulder, comforting him. "Don't worry. At least you get to be the 'Top General'… it suits you anyway." Even when patting him on the shoulder, she noticed a few girls glaring at her.

_Gosh, its so difficult to move here…_

"And so the Fujimiya role goes to Fuji-san! Gambate!"

"Oh… Fuji got a role too! Sounds like his name too! So who's Fujimiya?" She whispered over to him.

"Hn. The ninja."

"Aw… the girl who plays the princess must be so lucky, having two of the 'most wanted' guys trying to get her." Yuki held back a giggle at the thought of her findings on the internet the other day while Tezuka looked away in slight exasperation, knocking a knuckle on his forehead. He felt like taking his notebook and twack her on her head.

Little bored Yuki had nothing to do at home after finishing her homework, so she had a little surfing on the school's forum where she stumbled upon something interesting, such as the school polls section. Funniest person, most popular, cutest guy, all sorts of weird and funny topics. She browsed through till she found the topic: 'Most wanted hottest guys'. As soon as the page loaded and she saw the top 3 highest votes, she almost dropped her chocolate cone and laughed to death. The comments given by various voters could have killed her again.

_I love Tezuka-sama! Gyaa He's so cute and hot! I always turn up for his matches to see him move!_

_Aishiteru yo, Fuji-sama! I love your sexy butt!_

She didn't read all of it though. She couldn't read them all, due to time constraint. Surprisingly, she didn't feel jealous at all. Maybe it was because she couldn't stop laughing. Or maybe she kept imagining how Tezuka's face can change shape after reading. Then again, the second choice leads to the first one. (A/N: shakes head)

The teacher was silent for awhile. She busily scribbled the names of various students who will be acting, joining their names to the respective roles. The commotion in the hall didn't stop. Instead, it was noisier than ever, going at a supersonic pitch. Many of the girls seemed to be restless. After upon finishing, she took out a big record book at the bottom of the stack and announced to the lecture group.

"Alright, now for the role of the hime-sama," The teacher raised her voice louder, to overpower the classes, especially the girls who were getting more excited with every second passed. Expected. Most of the girls are hoping to get the role of the princess, I mean, wouldn't you? It was fortunate that teachers were present, otherwise cat fights would have erupted between cliques of girls. Yuki sneakily dished out a book, The Clay Marble, and started reading it silently below table-level, uninterested in all the squabbling of who's prettier, who's better, blah blah blah blah… only looking up once in awhile and sparing a ear to listen to the teacher. Play plannings bore her to death. She only love to watch them.

The teacher stopped, drank a sip of water from her metal flask before clearing her throat, "Calm down. Alright," noticing that she had gotten the attention of the students, "Due to the princess being the protagonist and that she'll be appearing in many of the more elaborate scenes, we will need someone who has a strong grasp in English so as to be able to bring out the atmosphere of the play…" One by one the girls dropped their jaws as they dropped back into their seats, shocked at how the teachers were choosing the lead actress. Some groups of them sat down immediately and were frantically comparing their English grades with each other.

_My my. Teacher shot them down with a bullet each. Bang Bang. Muahahaha. Hang on, where did I stop at? Ehhh… Oh yea, here._

The teacher held up the book, scrolling her index finger across the name list, searching for the lucky candidate. "And so we decided to choose the girl here with the highest grade… and that is…"

_None of you! mentally pictures girls crumbling into pieces Bwhahaha! Like what Echizen says, mada mada da gawk Crap!_

  


**End of Afternoon Training**

Carefully, the freshmen rolled up the nets and picked the balls, making sure that everyone of that ball is picked up and accounted for. The rule was: One ball missing and found by the captain or vice-captain, 5 laps. The second years and third years were busy performing their cooling down exercise, stretching every aching muscle that they've used during the training.

"Eh…? Yuki-sempai still running…" Horio stood up after finishing his exercises, pointing to the struggling figure from afar.

Kachiro shielded his eyes from the sunset, "Yea… I wonder how many laps she'd run."

"Go hime-sama!" Momoshiro and Eiji cheered out. Yes. He knows. To be exact, everybody knows. Culprit: Kikumaru Eiji. The only thing that Eiji hasn't blurted out is about Fuji and Yuki because Fuji threatened Eiji with some reason that even this author doesn't want to know. The whole team is excited about seeing the play and very much wanting to see how their poker-faced captain is going to act. In their opinion, the only role that Tezuka was good for was for life props such as trees, poles, traffic lights…-insert more here-

Soon, most of the club members had left. Leaving the courts rather deserted save for the still running phantom who occasionally disappeared and two boys sitting on the bench outside the club house with their bags.

"Saa… she's sitting again." Fuji sat up straight, crooning his neck to try and spot Yuki behind the low walls of the court, "You shouldn't push her so hard, she's really not good at running. 50 laps _is_ a lot of her."

_You have no idea how hard I'm going to push her…_

"Then the more she should run." Tezuka stood up and shouted across the courts. Immediately, the missing phantom appeared again to continue her run. "It's getting late, you should go home."

"It ok. We stay at the same place anyways. It's dangerous for her to go home alone."

"Well if you insist." Tezuka sighed. He unzipped his bag and picked a racket. "Just don't interfere." Fuji opened his eyes and glanced up at his captain. "Please." Tezuka stood up, looking away as if trying to avoid eye contact with his good friend. He grabbed Yuki's racket on the way and made his way to the lifeless body lying on the floor.

"You're pathetic. Get up." Tezuka glared down at Yuki who was desperately in need for air. He bent down, placing her racket beside her, "We're playing a game."

"Tezuka!"

"Quiet, Fuji."

Yuki stumbled into the court painfully, grabbing on to her right side of her abdomen. Fortunately, she was able to recover fast enough to be able to stand stably on her own two feet without bending over, although she was still breathing very deeply. She stood there in ready position, awaiting Tezuka's service.

Tezuka tossed the ball, smacking it with his Mizuno racket. Yuki returned it with slight difficulty due to all the spin he put on it. Nevertheless, the return was good. However…

"Yuki, I want you to play seriously as though this is a real match. Let's start all over. If I find that you're not playing serious, we'll start all over. You don't go home unless you we finish this. Clear? "

"Hai Buchou" Yuki pondered. What did he mean by that? She was already putting in her effort to return that hard serve with her tired body. She took in a deep breathe. Somehow, Tezuka's stance and form just looked… weird.

Tezuka served once more, again and again. It never got to Yuki's service. In fact, it never got past the opening service. Tezuka was becoming increasingly more annoyed with each serve.

"Stop that, Yuki." Tezuka shouted across to the girl, trying to keep his cool.

Yuki stood up straight frustratedly and shouted back."Stop what?"

"Stop playing like that!"

"Then what do you want me to do?" She started moving towards the centre of the court, just as Tezuka did.

"Play seriously."

"Buchou, I don't know if you know this but I am playing seriously!"

"Don't lie." At that moment, Tezuka switched his racket from his right hand to left. All of a sudden, it seemed clear to Fuji and Yuki what Tezuka's intentions were.

_Could it be? No, Tezuka couldn't have…_

Fuji gripped on to the fencing of the courts anxiously, "Tezuka, she can't!"

"Yes, she can Fuji. Yuki!" Tezuka snapped at the worried boy without removing his gaze from the girl in front of him.

"I…I can't." Yuki stuttered.

"Yes, you can."

"Stop it, Tezuka!" Fuji eyelids flew opened and he shouted once again from outside the fence.

Tezuka pointed his racket furiously at Fuji, warning him. "Fuji, I said don't interfere. Yuki…"

"…" Yuki's head hung low, hiding her face from the boiling captain. She grabbed her racket till her left knuckles went white.

Tezuka called her again, waiting for her response. "Yuk."

"I said I can't, okay!" Yuki's head jerked up to face Tezuka. Her eyes and nose were redden. "I can't means I can't! Stop forcing me!" she sobbed as tears ran down her cheeks. She turned heel and dashed out of the court, pushing past Fuji and out of the school.

"I told you to stop, didn't I?" Fuji barked at Tezuka who was just came out of the court, before he lugged two bags, chasing after her, "Yuki!"

_Sorry…_

Tezuka shook his head disappointedly and went to get his bag. He seemed to be in a daze, till he's foot struck something as he went to lock the courts.

_Hmm? Yuki's racket…? _

  


* * *

**A/N:**

Hope you like this chapter. Its late already so I guess its off to bed for me. Reviews are much appreciated. I shall write on the V'dae fic tml! XDD Oyasumi nasai! snuggles in with Fuji

Aishiteru – I love you.

Hime-sama – princess

Minna (san) – everybody


	14. Curtains! Lights! Action!

**A/N:**

Hihi. Thanks for all the reviews. I see that many of you are asking "what's with Tezuka and Yuki on the court", well, all I can say is that it shall be reviewed later in the story soon, so keep you eyes peeled for any clues that may help you guess what's Yuki's problem. As for this chap, well, its long but cos its Vdae, I shall give extra. Pardon me if it sounds funny. It's the first romance story I've ever written. I never knew I could write romance stories. Ah, lets get on with it then!

14th chapter for the 14th of Feburary…

  


* * *

The classroom of 3/1 was empty save for a single soul. Tezuka sat at his table before the start of class, feeling sort of guilty for what he did the previous day. Yuki didn't turn up for the morning training. Neither did she reply his phone calls or messages. He was beginning to worry if he destroyed the bond between him and Yuki in just one crucial moment. Fortunately, when he approached Fuji, he didn't turn him down. He didn't show any sign of holding a grudge against Tezuka.

"_It took me hours to put her to sleep. I suggest that you don't bring it up when she comes to school later. As for the racket, best if you return it to her yourself"_

He sat there, rubbing his temples as he stared at the notice calling for play practise. He wondered whether the play would be affected too. Though most people thought that he's close to perfect, he sometimes felt as though he just know how to break things up. On the other hand…

The door slid open quietly and Yuki entered the room with silent footsteps, almost ghostly. Tezuka tried to pretend to read a book or something, bending down, furiously clawing through his bag, till Yuki came to his table.

slam

"Come out. Don't pretend." Yuki said. She sounded pissed in some way, worrying Tezuka even more.

_She's going to scream…_

Slowly, Tezuka cautiously got out from under the table coming face to face with a fuming friend.

"Can't you believe it? The script is out already!" She growled, holding up a binded book which was as thick as their math textbook, "This is your copy. I lugged it up from downstairs."

"Th…thanks." Tezuka gave a little stutter, realising that she wasn't angry about _that_ "Oh, by the way, this is the notice for the practise sessions." Her behaviour was just too normal, as if nothing had happened.

"Thanks." Yuki took the slip of paper from him, returning to her desk. Tezuka eyed her closely till he was sure that she was alright.

He took hold of his script and flipped to browse through. As soon as he held up the book, a slip of paper slid out gently from the dense pages. Surprised, he picked it up with his long fingers and glanced through it.

Yuki read the note carefully, noticing some neatly handwritten message in the sea of printed words. She ran through the short message.

At that moment, both of eyes widen and they turned to each other. Straight faces cringed up, and lips widen into a smile before laughter came.

Tezuka zipped open his bag, and took out Yuki's racket, "No apology needed." He handed the racket over.

Yuki stopped laughing immediately, "I don't except your apology though." She took her racket and placed it in her bag, "Because its not you fault." She glanced over to Tezuka looked a little sad and guilty.

_In fact, I think I should thank you…_

She started laughing again, "Right now, you look like Oishi. Really! Forget about it. Let's not bring it up." She waved it aside, returning to her composure, "So any plans for the play?" Tezuka observed her for a minute or two. Though she was trying to hide it, Tezuka knew that _that_ wasn't _okay_. Fuji's words echoed in his head whenever he tried to bring himself to talk about Yuki's problem. In such a dilemma, he sighed and returned to his script.

_Sorry… I can't do that. You'll have to face it soon now or later. But for now…_

"Ah… what choice do we have?" Tezuka mumbled as he browsed through the book, "Might as well get it done well."

"My thoughts exactly." Yuki opened her book and look through the storyline and scenes, "Just that…"

"Hn?"

Dread was splashed all over her face as she crossed her legs under the table, shifting her short skirt to shield her from the cold, "I'm worried that the ninja might really come climbing into my room."

"Lock the windows and doors. Put thumb tacks near the window."

"Ehem" Both of them looked up and towards the door where the cough came from, "Saa… I see that General Homura is already trying to keep others away from the princess." Fuji slumped at the door of the classroom, wagging his copy of the script.

Tezuka leaned over to Yuki quickly, pointing towards where Fuji entered "See… you forgot to lock that door."

"Ah! Buchou! Did you just joke?" Fuji walked over to them, seeming to be searching his pockets for something, "Oh wells. Too bad, snapshots aren't really for taking buchou in the middle of telling jokes. I should bring a video cam next time"

_Trouble alert…_

"Yes Fuji, how may I help you?" Tezuka cleared his throat, keeping his eyes on Fuji, getting ready to throw the class intruder out anytime. He wouldn't care if Yuki minded it. Looking at the situation, he bet Yuki wouldn't mind as she was pushing herself against the chair harder and harder as Fuji came increasingly closer. She looked as if she was ready to spring out of her chair and run.

"Ahh… it's ok. I just came for the hime-sama" Fuji chuckled as he pulled out a chair and sat infront of Yuki's table, "wow, aren't we all getting into this role thing? Hehheh, ne… HIME-SAMA!" Fuji lunged forward suddenly and grabbed Yuki by her hands, scaring the daylights out of her. She gave a small yelp and almost dropped out of the chair.

"A...Ara?"

Fuji moved closer till he was just face to face with her, "You look so fine today." He chuckled at how she reacted. Somehow, he just love to see she all rattled up and nervous. It'll be better if she started to tremble a bit but that happens only once in a blue moon and he hasn't seen a blue moon since… hmm… long time ago.

Yuki sweatdropped and pushed the laughing boy away, "Don't be ridiculous. I'm fine any day."

"Ahh… that's true too." Fuji patted her on left cheek, making her flinch and blush, "You'll always be the apple of my eye. Ja see you at practise later!" With that, he skipped out of class 3/1.

"At least someone is happy about his role…"

  


**Whispers of Love: Practise session**

Confusion swept over small cast of the play as the actors and actresses stood on stage staring at their scripts blankly while the teacher, who was directing, was nagging and nagging at their acting.

"All of you better read up on your script! You guys aren't able to express yourselves well enough," the teacher raise up her rolled up script and pointed everywhere into the crowd, "We've only got 4 days or less to rehearse this!"

"You, Tezuka-san" she turned to the stiff person who looked up from his book, "Can you get any more expressionless?" A few giggles and muffled laughs came from the rest of the cast. Fuji chuckled beside Yuki who was holding back her hysterical laughter.

"And you two! Don't laugh!" she pointed her rolled up script at Yuki and Fuji "You're supposed to be the princess! Dainty, feminine and gentle. You, are supposed to be the ninja! Agile, heroic and, to some extent, manly. NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND!" She sighed, holding her head with her right hand, "Don't give me ideas of switching both of your roles."

_That'll be good! Omoi…_

_What's the bloody difference… _

The fury of that arrogant teacher wasted a damn half an hour of their time as put nicely by our dear hime-sama. Quite an entertainment for some of them as she had very exaggerated movements, acting on her own, speaking in a super fast speed comparable to their bullet trains. At one time, she almost dropped of the stage when run left and right. Yuki was wishing that she had chanted 'Macbeth' when she was backstage, and see if that taboo was really true. Well if it was true, at least some accident will happen and the play will be called off. If it didn't then… oh wells, it never hurt to try. -shrugs-

"Whatever! Gah! Let's rehearse that matchmaking scene! Ready, Action!"

**Act 3**

The Emperor, dressed in his fine clothes, sat down with a spread of delicious food in front of him. He waited for his guest with his trusted advisor, Fujimiya. The wooden door slid open, revealing Homura who had just arrived from a meeting with his subordinates. His face was stern and hard, weathered by the numerous battles he had fought.

"Please forgive me your majesty. I deserve death for holding up your invitation. I was in a discussion with the defence minister." He did a sitting bow, and stayed down, awaiting the Emperor's permission to rise.

"Come sit with us to feast." The Emperor invited the general to the table, "I have something to discuss with you. I've heard a lot about you and your successes." The Emperor took a sip of tea, before continuing "If I didn't remember wrongly, you became one of the youngest general ever recruited. Impressive."

"You flatter me, your majesty."

_I want to drink tea too._

"How modest. Very well, I'll tell you why you're here then. I'm going to offer you my daughter's hand."

The teacher sat in one of the front audience seat, watching the scene go. She was starting to smile, being satisfied with how this act had progressed. The previous 2 didn't go well. In the first, the Emperor didn't have any nobility, acting too frail and weak while the advisor seems as though he was trying to seduce the Emperor with his charm. In the second, the general didn't appear and the advisor was smiling too creepily after that and the princess fell asleep while waiting for her cue.

_Yes… yes… a little more and this will be perfect!_

The Emperor looked around him consciously, glancing at the figure in the front row seats, "Speaking of whom, where is my dear daughter? She should have been here before you." As soon as he said those lines, he let out a mental sigh. Putting the right amount of expression in his phrases was not an easy task. Acting noble just added on to the difficulty.

"She might have forgotten." The advisor smiled as he turned to the Emperor, "Shall I go get the princess, my lord?"

Suddenly, they heard something loud and felt the ground shake.

thump thump thump slam

The door flew open as the princess appeared, making those present jump out of their skins.

"CUT!" the perfectionist teacher banged her head on the head rest of the chair in front, she stood up and threw her hands into the air, "Ms Hime-sama, I said 'Be _dainty_ and _gentle_'! I shouldn't be hearing your footsteps! Neither are you supposed to slam the door open! What are you? Unhappy to act?"

_Aw, how did you ever guess?_

The teacher, to everybody's surprised, climbed over the chair, to the front and up the stage with a big, thick and heavy literature book, "Let's try this." She balanced the book on top of Yuki's head, "Now walk."

Yuki took a step forward shakily and stopped, trying very hard to keep the book steady. She grumbled in her heart, ever more wishing she could have said 'Macbeth' a thousand times. At this rate, she'll be turtle-necked and she'll grow shorter from the weight of the book.

"Good." The teacher grinned, "I want you to have that book on in every scene till I say you can forget about it."

"What!" Yuki squeaked, dropping the heavy book onto the floor. She scrambled to pick the book up, taking a quick look at the title of the book which she'll make a note, never to borrow or even carry. She raised an eyebrow as she saw it: Macbeth

_Now I know where all the bad luck went… stupid book._

Towards the end of the day, the fed-up teacher could not take the slow progress of the rehearsals anymore. How long does it take to just rehearse a 45-minute play! A stroke of insanity, fuelled with irritation, came crashing on the teacher. She announced, with sadistic joy, and moans of anger from the cast, that they shall attend rehearsals before and after school, regardless of their club activities and can only go home once they've practised their quota. If reputation was not at stake, the teacher would have been hit by a flying Mizuno shoe, together with the Macbeth book and notice a few bright flashes at the corner of her eye.

  


**14th Feburary: D-day**

The crew hustled around at the back of the stage behind the closed curtains, hiding them from the view of the anticipating audiences. The whole school was excited about the show. They sat there with their eyes glued to the stage while they discussed about how the story went and predicted how it will end. The girls were on the edges of their seat, impatient to see how their Tezuka-sama and Fuji-sama will look like in their costumes. The Seigaku team took a tiny block of the hall, sitting together to enjoy the show.

"Nya when are they starting? I've already finished half my… Hey! Momo! My popcorn!"

"He did it."

"Ochibi!"

"Eiji! Where did you get popcorn from? You're not supposed to eat in the hall!"

"Hmm… they're about 3 minutes late. I wonder what happened. 50 chance, the cast aren't ready."

The changing rooms were in a mess, clothes strewn around, make-up kits left open and clothes hanger hung everywhere. Yuki sat at the make-up counter, fiddling with her long hair. Her hair was neatly bunched up with an elaborate head dress and ribbons, leaving two long strands of hair dangling from the side.

"Yuki-chan, stop playing with your wig," Yumiko slapped Yuki's hand lightly, making her retract her hand "I can't finish your make-up if you keep doing that." Fuji Yumiko had volunteered to help out in the cosmetics as soon as she heard her brother and Yuki was inside. She took the eye liner and carefully marked out the outline of Yuki's eyelids. It reminded Yumiko of the time where she played dress-up with her siblings and Yuki. Strangely, the one who struggled and refused the make-up was not her brothers, "Remember to be dainty, feminine and gentle later."

"Hai Hai, Yumiko-chan" Yuki sat still like a mannequin "I've been observing your brother for the past few days. I'll just try and copy."

Yumiko laughed at that comment as she did the final touch-ups, "Ah… done. Okay" She stepped back to get an overall view on her piece of art. Her jaw dropped, "I knew I should have been a make-up artist." Yuki could only blink at her words.

Standing at a quieter and less frequented spot outside the male dressing room, Tezuka was doing some last minute memorising of the script, checking the lines twice, making sure that he doesn't get them mixed up as he had done many a times in the rehearsals.

"Oh my… You look so… cool!"

Tezuka took his hazel eyes off the paragraphs and found himself at a lost for words, "Yu…Yu… Yuki?"

"Turn around, come on! Turn!" Tezuka stood still, rooted to the ground. Yuki assisted him by roughly pushing him to spin 360 degrees. "Suave! And may I say, you have a nice butt too." Tezuka's cheeks turned slightly red at that. He knew he had to say something, but his mind was blank. He could only stare through his glasses which were sliding down his nose bridge.

All of a sudden, Yuki tiptoed, jerking upwards to push Tezuka's glasses back into place, causing his face to flush with heat. Yuki giggled at the sight and pinched his cheeks, "Aw… you look so cute like this. Now where's Fuji?"

"Ah..erm… Dressing room. Changing. Costume. Lots of strings to tie." Tezuka stuttered whatever he could come out with or even remember from the sentence that could barely form properly in his mind.

Speaking of the devil, the door creaked open.

"Missed me?" Fuji popped out from the dressing room. Gloves and guard were tied on neated, concealed under his advisor outfit. He rushed over when he spotted Yuki. He inspected her with wide eyes, "Is that my Yuki? Saa… You look cute…" he looked around, noticing that no one was looking, he leaned forward and breathed into her ear, "can I kiss you?"

Yuki blushed, adding on colour to the blusher Yumiko had already applied, and pushed him to a more comfortable distance, "No. Your nee-san will kill you for ruining the make-up."

"Right." Fuji backed a little to accommodate to her. He knew that she'd prefer their romance to take place alone somewhere else outside school or where people aren't looking, in this case, a very very stoic buchou who stood gawking. He patted her cheeks gently, careful not to smudge the make-up. He had seen his sister scream and that was not a pretty sight. "Just make sure you dress up like this on our wedding day." He twirled a round, "So how do I look?"

"More handsome than ever. More adorable than ever! Hehe" Yuki giggled as Fuji twirled, reminding her of the small little boy who loved to dance like an angel, "Oh wait, your belt's not tied right. Come, let me help you."

"Okay" Fuji sang happily, lifting his arms to help her go around. "Opf!"

Yuki loosened the belt immediately, "Is this too tight?" she looked up worriedly, "I don't want you to stop breathing halfway…" she tried to re-tie the light brown belt, adjusting it on his waist.

"Saa… I only have to look at you to stop breathing."

"What a glib tongue." She got up and raised his chin with her index finger as he coiled his hands around her waist, "You know what happens to glib tongues, dear?"

"Nope. Care to show me?" he brought her close till they were face to face with each other again.

Yuki grinned, "Sure. Give me a knife."

Unfortunately or fortunately for Fuji, their little tease was interrupted but none other than their director.

"Okay People! Go to your spots! We're about to start!" the teacher hurried past them, making herself clear while urging some of the actors with a push.

Fuji clapped his hands and smiled, "Oh well, I'll be over the other side then. See you soon." He pushed his way though the confused crowd of crew members who were busy arranging the props.

"That means we ought to go too. Come on, don't just stand there" Yuki tugged at Tezuka's sleeve lightly, not wanting to tear anything or ruin the general image, "What's wrong with you? Cold feet?" She poked him twice in the side to check if he hasn't died standing or something.

"N-nothing…" Tezuka followed behind her slowly, keeping his head bowed, he mumbled, "You look beautiful."

"Hmm..? Did you say something?" Yuki gave him a quick glance before returning to check the progress of the play on the stage

"Nothing."

_This is a love story that took place centuries before history was recorded, before there was a Valentine's Day…_

The narrator continued reading from his cards at the front of the stage, in front of the dead quiet audiences, while the cast and crew waited patiently and nervously behind the closed maroon curtains that draped from the ceiling.

_Before there was A Tale of Genji, we had Whispers of Love._

The audience cheered and clapped as the curtains drew open, revealing the set: The interior of a traditional Japanese house. A food-filled table was placed in the middle of the 'room' together with 4 similarly-coloured cushions on the floor. The applause died down as the Emperor strutted in.

_The Emperor, who had reigned over 20 years, had never come across a more troublesome problem. _

The Emperor paced back and forth the stage while shaking his head in a frustrated manner yet rather consciously, trying not to trip or mess up. He then went over to his table to take a seat. Fuji entered the stage with grey robe on, concealing his ninja wear beneath it.

_He had to marry his daughter who was coming of age. He already had his candidate in mind. However, he did want to meet the man personally with his trusted advisor and daughter._

"The Emperor's got to have some guts employing Fuji-sempai as his advisor."

"Momo's right. Ne Oishi... I wouldn't want to choose Fuji to be my advisor, much less my _trusted_ advisor."

"Quiet Eiji, it's just a play."

Yuki's eyes widen as the Emperor raised his hand, inconspicuously signing for Tezuka to go in, "Hey, hey… your cue." She gave a big push, sending the unexpecting General flying to the stage. Tezuka stumbled the first step before returning to his usual mode: stoic mode. He walked towards the Emperor, going along with the script.

"Buchou's out!" Momoshiro pulled Ryoma to him, and pointed, "Look look!"

"Momo-sempai, he looks the same." Ryoma pushed his burly senior away, commenting in English, "Big deal."

"Where? Where's the burger?"

"I said 'Big deal', not 'Big mac'"

"Oh."

---

  


**A/N: from this point on, I shall narrate the story while thoughts and conversations outside of the play shall be in italics. Thoughts are bounded by mid dashes eg. -…-**

Dressed in a dark green robe with a black belt around his waist, General Homura slid open the door slowly, taking his confidence and pride with him.

"Please forgive me your majesty. I deserve death for holding up your invitation. I was in a discussion with the defence minister." He bow while sitting down, and stayed down, awaiting the Emperor's permission to rise. He's heart thumped against his chest, wondering what was so important that the Emperor had to discuss with him. It wasn't common that an Emperor would invite a general. Even some of the ministers have not had the honour to feast with the Emperor!

The Emperor smiled. It had been a long time since he had seen Homura. The last time he saw him was as a child of one of the nobles who came to train under the mentorship of the previous Defence Minister.

"Come sit with us to feast." The Emperor invited the general to the table, "I have something to discuss with you." Homura got up quickly and moved to sit at the table, opposite of the Emperor. He kept his anxiety in his heart, maintaining his calm outlook. He made sure the Emperor ate first before he picked up any food from the table.

"I've heard a lot about you and your successes." The Emperor took a sip of tea, before continuing "If I didn't remember wrongly, you became one of the youngest general ever recruited. Impressive."

Homura bowed again, as his majesty picked up some of the food on the table, "You flatter me, your majesty."

"How modest. Very well, I'll tell you why you're here then." The Emperor spoke again, putting down his chopsticks "I'm going to offer you my daughter's hand."

Homura's eyes widen. He began to wonder if this was a prank from the Emperor. He looked at the Emperor one more time to make sure that the he really meant his words. However, the Emperor was looking around the room, or more accurately, outside the room as if searching for something. The Emperor frowned, showing some displeasure.

"Speaking of whom, where is my dear daughter?" the Emperor sighed, shaking his head "She should have been here before you." If it was one thing about the princess that he disliked, it was her punctuality. She made it seem as though the palace is a small place where everywhere was just a stone's throw away from anywhere. In addition, she walked as slow as she was lady-like, unless she was trying to run from the guards to escape to somewhere a princess shouldn't be.

"She might have forgotten." The advisor smiled calming the Emperor, suggesting "Shall I go get the princess, my lord?"

Then, the door panel slid open once again, revealing a girl dressed neatly in her light blue kimono. Her hair fell lightly over her face as she bowed to the Emperor, "I'm sorry father, I'm late."

_Kawamura sat up. He squint his eyes to see the figure on stage, "Oh my god, is that…?" _

"_Nya, it IS!" Eiji opened his eyes wide, and stared at the stage. Even in the dimly-lit hall, Eiji's eyes works perfectly as on the court. He nudged and whispered, "Momo!"_

"_I know. I know!" Momo chewed furiously at his bar of Snickers, "It's like Extreme Makeover or something."_

"_And I thought she would have slammed the door open…there was a 97 chance of that."_

"Were you playing at the courtyard again?" The Emperor looked at her sternly and motioned her in exasperatedly, "Doesn't matter. Hurry up."

"Yes father." She took another bow and sat beside her father.

"As I was saying," The Emperor repeated himself once again to update his perpetually late daughter, "I'm offering your hand to General Homura here."

The princess froze, dropping her chopsticks as well as the small lump of rice on it, "What!" She looked questioningly at her father. Did she just hear what he say?

"Will you marry my daughter?"

"It'll be an honour, your majesty."

"_Yay! Buchou's marrying the princess!" Eiji cheered softly in the audience. However, as we all know, how soft can Eiji be? He regretted cheering after realising that the advisor was glaring at him at the corner of his cerulean eyes._

"No, I'm not marrying you!" She slammed her smooth slender hands on the table in disgust at the general, "Father, how could you? You didn't consult me on this!" She looked at her father for answers but all that she got was just as absurd.

"Fujimiya-san, if you please."

Fujimiya cleared his throat, and took out a scroll from his side, he read out, "It states in the law that by your 18th birthday, if you have not chosen a suitor, you're father shall have unquestionable choice to whom you shall marry." The advisor's voice became softer towards the end as he noticed the princess glaring at him. If looks could kill, the advisor would have died 1000 times over. He had seen the princess like this on several occasions when her father tries to match-make her, and it does pay to keep quiet. He turned his head away sadly and put some food into his mouth.

"This is.. this… Ridiculously absurd!" the princess stormed out of the room with her hair trailing behind her, leaving the three men sitting there quietly. She slammed the door and exited, as fast as she entered the stage.

_Yay! Finally, I can slam it! V_

"That girl…I've spoilt her too much" the king stood up to go after her, however, he was stopped by Homura.

"Let me go after her instead." Homura ushered the Emperor back to his seat, "I think she'll be too angry to listen to you if you went. I'll talk some sense into her."

Out in the courtyard again, the princess dropped down onto the soft lush green grass under the shade of the tree, folding her arms in anger. She stood up again in irritation and started pacing around with heavy footsteps as if she was trying to trample the grass flat to vent out her anger. She didn't know what to do. She had always dreamt of marrying the one man that she loved, but that dream seemed so far away, flown beyond the clouds… beyond her reach. On one hand, she had to obey her father, on the other, she didn't love the general.

Two hands softly held her by the shoulders from the back. She turned around abruptly and found Homura standing in front of her.

"I'd guess you'd be here." Homura said softly, trying to work around the princess's temper.

The princess sighed as she found her seat on a stone bench, "Father asked you to come did he?"

Homura cautiously sat down beside her. He looked up at the Sakura trees, "No, I came here on my own account." turning to the princess, yet not daring to look at her, he continued his conversation with her "very often, before or after my meetings, I walk around and at times, pass this place. The garden is beautiful alone… however its beauty is often rivalled by something more stunning…" He's last few words caught the attention of the princess who curiously turned to him.

"By what?" she looked at him with her clear eyes, taking Homura's breath away. It was moments like this where the princess captured the general's heart, even from a distance where Homura stood watching as she played and strolled in the courtyard.

"By you, my lady." Homura took her hand in his warm palms, holding them tightly.

_The audience hustled up with 'awws' and 'that's so sweet…'. Suddenly it seemed to Tezuka's fangirls as though he was holding their hands instead. They sat at the edge of their seats waiting for him to finish his sentence. _

"From the first time I saw you at a royal ceremony 3 years ago, I've already fallen in love with you." He paused for a moment, gathering his courage, "Will you marry me?"

_-Eat your hearts out girls… -_

_A few of them swooned at the scene, needing some revival from their friends. The way he put it just made their hearts skip a beat, maybe two beats. Not too many beats fortunately, if not the hall will be filled with 453 dead girls who died of heart attack, confirmed by Inui. They never knew that straight-faced, Mr Expressionless, could make this sound so…_

"_Sugoi…" Momoshiro looked at the stage intently as he wiped tears from his eyes, "It looks as if Tezuka buchou is really confessing…"_

"_You're right nya… it looks so real…"_

_Inui furiously scribbled on his tattered book which Yuki has been trying to steal lately. That explains the tattered-ness. Nothing comes out of Yuki's bag straight and neat._

Without a choice, the princess nodded shyly as the general embraced her tightly in his arms, nuzzling her under his chin. However, emptiness, nevertheless, lingers in the princess' heart.

'_Nice warm cushion… poke poke Whoa. 6 packs!'_

'_Ouch.'_

'_Let go, buchou… you're too close to my koi. Go back to your kois at home._'

Endless darkness soon blanketed the sky to its horizon, leaving bright flaws of glitter scattered across it. Troubled by her father's verdict, the princess wasn't able to fall asleep. She didn't dare to sleep. She was afraid she would wake up to find herself all dressed up and ready for the wedding. She paced around her room in her nightwear, sighing constantly.

"Maybe some fresh air might clear my troubled mind." The princess told herself, walking out of her room and into the yard. Bathed in the moonlight, she took in deep breaths, hoping that it would help. She lifted her hands up as if receiving power from the bright round moon which hung up in the sky. However, all that she got was an injured… something. Something black and clothy dropped from the sky, curling up on the cold hard ground. It soon went limp, lying lifeless on the ground.

"_He didn't drop from the sky, he walked and fell there!"_

"_Eiji… its just a play. You don't expect them to throw Fuji from the ceiling, do you?"_

The princess ran over and stopped in front of it. She approached it carefully, gently pushing it. The lifeless figure rolled over revealing a masked man who was bleed in the chest. Something wooden with a tail at the end stuck out from where the blood trickled out. The princess gathered her strength and dragged the phantom back into her room.

_--Harder, Koi! Pull with all your might! I don't remember under-feeding you!--_

_--Damn, what did he eat! Yoshiko-chan over-fed him! priak opps. holds up a ripped cloth--_

There in the room, the ninja regained consciousness after an hour. He sat up, shaking his groggy head, he looked around, wondering where he was. He shot his hand up to his chest, realising that the poison arrow that wounded him was gone, leaving a hole in his costume as well as his chest. The arrow was, instead, placed neatly in two pieces beside him.

"Ah you're awake!" the ninja turned around while still sitting. He's jaw dropped, realising who it was. The princess set down a cup of tea, "Here drink this. It'll expel the poison."

"I have to go" the ninja cut her short, "the guards will find me soon and I may implicate you as well." He tried to stand, however, the pain in his chest and dizziness brought him down on the floor again in pain.

"Don't move around, you're still poisoned" the princess caught him just in time before he felt onto the floor face down, "Stay here. The guards are still combing the area for you."

"Alright then. Just for awhile."

"So what were you doing?" the princess spoke without thinking. Realising that she sounded a little rude to her 'guest', she stumbled on her words, attempting to correct herself, "I mean, why are they after you?"

"I was trying to steal a vase from the palace hall." He looked away in shame, feeling quite undeserving of the princess' kindness, "The one that, I heard, was given by a Chinese ambassador."

"Why?"

"So I can sell it." The ninja's eyes brightened behind his mask at the mention of his purpose, "The money should be enough to feed the needy outside the palace or at least the children. But I was careless…" he opened his tattered bag, showing nothing in it. Nothing at all.

"Food?" The princess raised an eyebrow, "Don't they have the money to get their servants to buy some?"

The ninja chuckled, and patiently explained, "My dear, they don't even have the money to buy food, much less have servants." The princess gasped. She only knew a world within the palace. She had never been outside the walls though she tried a few times. The palace was the only place she knew, or only have to know, the only place which kept her innocent and naïve in her ways.

"That's horrible!" she exclaimed as she imagined people and children alike starving and crying out for food. She winced at the thought of her starving as well.

She thought it through deeply before taking a small package from her craved wooden drawers. She hesitated again. Making up her mind, she returned by the ninja's side. She unwrapped it and placed it in his soft hands.

"Here take this." She closed his palms with her item, "Maybe you can sell this."

He opened his palms and immediately pushed it back to her, "No, I can't. That's your jade comb. I certainly cannot take something as precious as a princess' comb!"

"It's ok," the princess pushed his hand back to him, "I want to help. Besides, I'll have no need for it soon." Her sentence trailed softly at the end as tears welled up in her bright eyes. She held back her sobbing, not wanting to alert anyone outside, just in case a guard was walking by.

Smiling, her unexpected guest patted her on the shoulder and stroked her hair "Now now, don't cry." Unconsciously, she leaned onto his shoulder for comfort. Muttering something almost incoherrant, inaudible in between the sobs and stifling, she buried her head into his shoulder.

"Yea… you're father seems like a mean guy, forcing you to marry. It's your marriage not his." He stroked her soft hair gently at a slightly faster pace as he felt his shoulder getting wetter and wetter, "Come on, don't cry. Crying princesses aren't pretty with their puffy eyes and red noses."

"Really?" the princess choked, looking up at him as she tried to stop crying.

"Yep. Not even your highness' make-up can cover." He wiped some of her tears off with her blanket, as he couldn't possibly use his dirtied sleeve on the princess. "Why don't you get some sleep then? It must have been tiring for you to stay up all night and even rush to get someone to pull an arrow out of me."

"I pulled it out of you actually." She sat up straight, leaving the amazed ninja to wipe the remaining of her tears with her sleeve, "I can't sleep." She sat there, pouting, rubbing her eyes which could not lie about her weariness.

"Too much on your mind?" the ninja smiled at her as he patted on her head, "Stay right here." Recklessly, he dashed out of the room, returning back in a few seconds with his hands cupped together, "Quick. Do you have any small cage or container?"

_--Hurry hurry. What a feisty… Wait till you become part of Inui's juices…--_

The princess scrambled around the room, searching every nook and cranny before finding a pristine glass bottle which was previously used to put ointment in it. She wondered what she had been keeping all these years in her stash of stuff before remembering why she was searching for the bottle in the first place. She brought it immediately to the ninja.

_--No no. No shaking. Remember just tap. Don't poke. Tap.--_

He opened his hands and quickly emptied a tiny cricket into the bottle. Cleverly, he grabbed a handkerchief from the princess' desk and tied it around the mouth of the bottle, trapping the insect inside. The black spot in the bottle bolted from side to side, up and down, trying in vain to find any loop holes in its captive cage to make an escape. The girl's eyes widen with fascination as they followed the feisty insect's path. She tapped the glass gently to play with the cricket. Soon, the cricket was worn out and decided to sit at the bottom of the bottle, rubbing its legs together making a melodious screechy sound.

"Ah… now your cricket shall sing lullabies for you." He placed the bottle beside her bed and prepared to move off, "I shall be off then! Ja"

_--Opps…--_

_The teacher stared hard at Fuji as he gave a sheepish smile. He was so used to 'Ja' than 'goodbye' that he's reflexes decided to use his Japanese way of goodbye. Yuki held back her laughter at the look of Fuji's face, using the cricket to distract herself._

The princess followed him to the door. Somehow, his leaving struck her hard in her heart like an icicle. She twisted and twirled her locks nervously, gapping her mouth as if hesitating to speak up, "Will you come again, Sir?" he turned to her as soon as he heard her squeak.

He lifted her chin to she her face clearly once more under the moonlight, "If it's your wish, princess" with that he went on his way, leaving the princess with her new pet cricket, Mushi.

The next day was dreadful for the princess as she was called upon to make arrangements for her wedding. She sat in the dinning hall sighing, wishing that she had brought her pet along. Then again, that would have been a bad idea. Surely someone would ask her where she got it from. Crickets pop out every now and then but they don't just pop out in bottles in your yard. Her father, for one, will definitely ask till he gets a satisfied answer. She propped her herself on her right arm as she prodded her food with a chopstick. In present times, they would have gone golfing but since golf probably haven't been invented or travelled all the way to Japan, her father and General Homura have gone hunting and have not yet returned. Althought Homura had suggesting bring his fiancé along, her father hasn't brought her on hunting trips since she was a little girl. She started crying over every dead rabbit or deer she saw and loud crying children or girls aren't good to bring along for hunting trips.

"A penny for your thoughts? Though a penny might not mean much to a princess…" The princess looked up to find her father's advisor, Fujimiya, taking a seat across her. He looked at her with questioning eyes.

"I'm just bored." She put down her chopstick, scanning the food on the table lazily while drawing circles on the table with her fingers, "Father's taking an awfully long time… so much for punctuality…"

"Don't worry, he'll be back soon enough" He smiled back at her, motioning to her to eat. He stood up, holding up his sleeve to push a dish of food in front of her, he cringed a little in pain as his hand came to a full stretch, "Had a good sleep last night?"

"Yes!" the princess exclaimed. Her expression changed upon remembering what happened the previous night, "All thanks to Mushi's song!" She quickly covered her mouth, realising that she had spoken too much. Fortunately, the advisor didn't seem too curious about who's Mushi or what was Mushi anyway. He sat there smiling at her, nodding at everything she said. Somehow, that smile of his looks so… where has she seen that before…

"That's good to hear."

The door flung open and a soldier came in. He came close to the table and gave bowed to the princess.

"Your highness, the Emperor is unable to return back in time as he's has travelled quite some distance and has decided to reside at the East villa for a night."

The princess sighed again at the news, "You may leave. Thank you" She got up, and walked past the soldier, "I'm going back to my room. What a waste of time…"

"Okay" replied Fujimiya as he waved after the princess as she closed the door, "Take care! Remember to feed Mushi with grass! Crickets love grass."

The princess strolled her way back. She stopped short of her room, recalling what Fujimiya said, "Cricket?"

That night, the ninja returned to the princess' room. However, when he opened her door, there wasn't a single soul in the room.

"She must have gone out playing at the garden again" he muttered with a smirk. Slowly, he crept into the room and placed an old velvet-lined box on her table. He turned around to leave. Suddenly, something rushed up to him giving him a hard push. He slipped on the silk carpet, falling to the ground. The next thing he knew, he was pinned to the ground and he's face felt the chilly wind blowing from the open doors.

"I knew it was you, Fujimiya!" the princess waved the mask as she sat on top of him, pointing at him with the other hand.

"Oh wells… defeated by your highness once again!" Fujimiya laughed at the pouting princess as he tried to get up but his hands slipped on the silk carpet, bringing him back on the floor, "Slippery silk carpet? You planned this? Smart girl" He got up slowly and carefully, trying not to make another embarrassing slip, "Maybe you should take over my job instead." He patted himself off the dust.

"Here's your comb. I managed to steal something else to claim this back." He picked up the box that he placed on the table and stretched it out to the princess, he whispered softly "The Empress dowager gave it to you while she was on her deathbed. It's precious. Don't ever give it away…"

She nodded sadly, feeling ashamed of herself. She took a step forward to receive the box. However, she had forgotten about her little trap and slipped on the silk just as Fujimiya did before. She fell forth onto him, coming directly face to face with him in a very awkward and embarrassing position.

--Phew!--

"I'm sorry," She blushed heavily and scrambled to get up. Then again, she felt something tugging her elbows back to the ground. She looked down to find a pair of hands holding on to her.

Fujimiya pulled the struggling girl closer and whispered into her ear, "I love you." He trembled as he kissed her forehead, fearing rejection. He begged, "Please, don't deny your feelings for me." The frightened princess gave in and broke into tears as they hugged each other on the cold hard floor.

Since that night, Fujimiya visited the princess by night, while he worked beside the Emperor by day. In the day, they tried not to be too close to each other to avoid arousing unwanted suspicion. If found out, both of them could be beheaded. They refrained from having long conversations, leaving every word to after dusk. On the other hand, nothing escapes the eye of a general…

The wedding was inevitable as the days came closer. The banquet was planned, so had the wedding clothes been made. The princess was getting anxious. There was no way that she could get away from the wedding and thus, the both of them decided to elope…

On the night of their intended escape, the princess was busily packing her precious belongings when she heard a knock on her door. "That's rather early…"

As the moon rose up high into the sky, showering the darkness with light, Fujimiya appeared stealthily, looking around for any guards. Fortunately, the yard was, as usual, quiet as a grave. Swiftly, he made a dash to the princess' room.

"Princess," he knocked on her door, "I'm here." He waited for an answer. The answer didn't come. He called out again, "Princess?" Still there was no answer. He slid open her door slowly so as not to frighten the princess, thinking that she must be playing with him again. To his horror, he found her tied up and gagged in the middle of the room. She struggled regardless how the tight ropes hurt her, screaming through her gag for him to escape, but it was too late. Soldiers had already seized him the moment he let his guard down. Fujimiya was dragged out together with the princess and thrown on the ground at Homura's feet. There they were on a cliff, outside the palace, on the outskirts of the city. The cold strong wind blew as their clothes flapped. The trees rustled dangerously as if warning others of what was to come.

"I didn't think I'll have to come to this. In fact, I didn't think it was you anyway," Homura loomed over the both of them. He kneeled down beside a beaten up Fujimiya and wrenched his head upwards by his light hair, "Give her up."

_--OUCH! I said not so rough! Tezuka Kunimitsu, I'm so going to kill you. Just watch out…--_

"No." Fujimiya spat as blood trickled from his cut lip, he coughed as he tried to regain his breath.

_--Oh my… Fuji!… he coughed in my face!--_

_---See… told you so… --_

Homura threw his head back down on the ground in rage. "Release them." He wiped the blood off his face, commanding the soldier beside them, who executed his superior's orders without delay. The soldier had a knife pointed at the princess throat, while Homura flung a sheathed sword in front of the injured Fujimiya.

"Let's have a duel." Homura unsheathed his sword, getting ready in his stance, "The last one standing gets the princess."

_The crowd cheered with awe as Fuji bravely picked up the sword. A sword duel between Seigaku's top two seeds! The audience were stirred up as the clashes of swords began. Tezuka and Fuji made an effort to co-ordinate themselves, in order not to accidentally whack each other. There was once during the rehearsals where Fuji, being much shorter than Tezuka, 'accidentally' whacked him at the… erm… wrong place. Too bad, buchou has a high pain tolerance, so there weren't any good pictures to take. However, the same could not be said when Tezuka went to the toilet after that. _(A/N: -shrugs-)

Finally, the duel ended when Homura stabbed Fujimiya in the shoulder. Fujimiya fell to the ground, wounded by numerous cuts and stabs, kneeling in front the general. He had no energy to go on.

"Sorry, my love."

Homura raised his sword above his head, taking aim. "This ends now" He brought his sword down to finish the job.

"Stop!" the princess ran, covering Fujimiya. She managed to outwit the soldier, freeing herself. She sobbed and shivered as she hugged on to Fujimiya, "Please… stop… please…"

She begged as Homura lowered his sword, glaring at the both of them. He's eyes softened as he saw how tightly she was holding the advisor. Maybe he really had to…

"Go." Homura turned around, sheathing his sword,

The two on the ground looked up at him with disbelief, staying rooted to the ground, not knowing what to say or how to react. They held each other in fear of losing one another.

"A kidnapper held both her highness and the advisor, Fujimiya, hostage. Tragically, they fell off the cliff during the pursuit. Their bodies were washed away by the river and never found." He lowered his head, gripping his sword tightly as his hand shook, "Now go."

"Thank you." Fujimiya breathed out as he hobbled away with the princess to make their escape.

---

  


The curtains closed as the play came to an end. The narrator did the closing as he stood in the middle of the stage.

"When you love someone, let them go. If it is meant to be, they'd be yours. Loving someone is not all about being with the person. It is about how you feel about them. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Hope you enjoy the show."

The audiences applaud as the narrator left the stage. A few of them even stood up to clap. The show was a success, better than expected and was to be the talk of the school for the week.

As soon as the doors were opened, the Seigaku regulars took the opportunity to dash out, making their way to the other entrance of the hall, via backstage. They squeezed through the crew who were packing, looking around for their stars.

"Buchou! There!" Eiji screeched, pointing as he bounced up and down. Tezuka, who had yet to change back to his uniform, tried to make a run for it. Unfortunately, he had trained his team too well and they were able to catch him before he even had a toe out of backstage.

"Tezuka, you were great!" Oishi commented as he put his hand on Tezuka's shoulder.

"I would have called for an encore!" Momoshiro chirped and quickly added, "But that would be too tiring for buchou." when Tezuka glared at him through his frameless glasses.

"Momo-sempai… you're choking me." Ryoma struggled from Momoshiro, crumpling his dark coloured uniform, "I can't breathe."

"Mou Echizen! You should watch and learn so you can go after Sakuno-chan!"

"Iyada!"

Kawamura looked around, "Ara? Where's Fuji? Is he still changing?"

"Ah… He has yet to change out. I saw him going entering the girls' dressing room." Some crew member answered back as he carried a box of props to the store, "All the girls have left except Yuki-chan."

"That's great! Thanks nya!" Eiji excitedly bounced towards the door of the girls' dressing room, eager to see Fuji and Yuki in their costumes, "Let's go see them!" Eiji swung open the door inwards wide open while the regulars waited at the door.

The regulars stood at the entrance speechless, with their eyes open. At that moment, Eiji regretted opening the door. He even wished he never even touched the door. There in front of them at the end of the room was a boy pressing a girl against the wall, both in each other's arms, locked in passionate kiss. It took them a few seconds before they realised that a few pairs of eyes were set upon them.

Yuki's face turned red as a tomato. She pushed Fuji away. She stood there, with her hand to her mouth, as if trying to explain herself. She finally gave up and grabbed her bag, and shot out of the room as a few of the regulars starting cheering and teasing.

"90 chance that she's going to the school fountain near the school garden."

"Fujiko-chan! Hurry go after her!" Eiji shouted out as he felt a breeze past him.

Fuji ran after her, panting from all the stairs he had to climb up and down. Around the sharp bends, down a steep slope, pass the empty tennis courts… he finally reached the fountain where he saw a girl dressed in kimono, jumping up and down, trying very hard not to scream her head off.

He went over, calling her name, "Yuki…"

She turned around, face still flushed, still unable to accept what she had just done with him in the dressing room. She tried to find a place to hide but Fuji caught her hand before she could make up her mind where to go.

"As I said, don't deny your feelings for me." He pouted and whispered in her ear, taking something out of his pocket. He put it around her neck and kissed her on her forehead.

She took a look and found a silver ring at the end of the chain. She picked it up gently, haven't gotten rid of her habits she had developed just for the play. Inspecting the inside rim of the ring, she found an inscription:

_Yesterday, today, tomorrow, I shall love forever more. Happy Valentines! Syusuke._

"See… I have one here too" Fuji took out a ring attached to chain hidden beneath his clothes, "Neat huh?"

"Thank you Syusuke." Yuki hugged him tightly, grateful for having him, "I love you too even if you've been so mean to me."

Up on the fourth floor, the whole bunch of regulars had shifted themselves there, dragging their buchou along to watch a romance movie taking place.

"And it's happily ever after…" Oishi sighed as they saw a satisfying ending to their play right before their eyes, about 100metres away at a declination angle of 50 degree.

Ryoma looked closely. He squinted his eyes before he muttered, "You think so? Mada mada dane."

Then without warning, a shriek rang out from the garden.

"Hey! Your ring is of a different design!"

"Saa… they ran out of rings…Ouch. Ouch That's the closest I could get."

"Yours is much cooler! Why didn't you get that for me?"

"Saa… "

  


* * *

**A/N:**

Happy Vdae pple! Hope you enjoy it! May your life be filled with love wherever you go!

Reviews much appreciated. Good night.

Finished at 3am 13/2/2006

Hime-sama – princess

Omoi – short form of omoshiroi which means 'interesting'


	15. Fear

A/N: Boo! It's me! Thanks for the reviews guys! Happy that you loved the previous chap. Took me some time to plan and write this out. Writers block again. So hope you like this chap too! Thanks for the reviews again!

* * *

The sky began to light up as the sun started to peek out shyly from the horizon. Alarm clocks rang as a few neighbourhood dogs bark and lunge ferociously at the newspaper boy who conceived an idea of aiming the newspaper at the dogs instead of the doors.

Two figures stood at the west entrance of the Tennis Centre, waiting. It was still half an hour before the meeting time but Tezuka decided to be early. He didn't have much of a choice especially when his grandfather woke up early. He needed a break from his grandfather's constant nagging. It seemed that Ojii-san's nagging had risen by 60, maybe even more if you asked Inui to tabulate it…

"_Did you give Yuki-chan any present for Valentine's?"_

"_No."_

"_What! Why?"_

"_Why must I?" -blink-_

"_Because I said so. Give this."_

"_No. Anyway, Valentine's day is over."_

"_How about White Day? Give it!"_

"_No."_

"_GIVE!" _

He was tired of having to make his point of not giving any presents to her lest some people misunderstood the meaning, particularly the one who will show him something worse than hell. The only way to avoid grandpa was to wake up and leave before grandpa wakes up. And if grandpa spots you leaving, run! So here he is, at the courts. Early. Very, very, VERY early. But most importantly, away from Ojii-san. His timing also shocked Oishi, who knowing Tezuka's habit of being early, decided to be early so that Tezuka didn't need to stand there alone looking like the centre's new established statue.

"You think I should contact the rest and see if their up?"

"Hn." Tezuka replied as he stared drowsily at a distance, observing some bird that was busily pecking away at bird seeds on the ground, "Just call Echizen, Momoshiro and Kawamura. They need the call sometimes. Especially Echizen."

_Nope, I must not be drowsy, no no…_

Just as remembered why he was drowsy, he quickly whipped out his sleek black handphone and activated his speed-dial which connected him to someone who, at times, has very very terrible problems of waking up. It wasn't long before the beeping tone stopped and a voice answered the call.

"Hello!" It wasn't the voice he wanted to hear.

"Fuji…"

"Saa… Tezuka… and what are you doing calling her phone?" A sly voice chirped, hiding a thousand over daggers waiting to be released. It is a good thing that sound only travels in phone lines.

"Ah. That… Has she woken up yet?" He asked with a monotonous voice.

"Why do you ask?"

Tezuka's eyes narrowed as if he was having a face to face conversation, replying the annoyed voice over the phone "Why do you care?"

"Because you, Oishi and Inui made my girlfriend stay up late in the night, just to discuss the line-up over the internet. And you know she has problem waking up after a late night."

"That's why I'm calling." He stated as a matter-of-factly, and frustratedly. He didn't like early morning squabbles. Not when he's drowsy. And of course, not with a whiny blue-eyed tensai.

"Don't worry, I'm here." A little chuckle came from the other side, "She's alright."

"Wow." Tezuka rolled his eyes slightly behind those glasses of his, imagining Fuji squirming in his seat like a love-sick schoolgirl, "That's comforting. So is she awake?"

"You know…" Tezuka sighed mentally again, foreseeing another long-winded speech from his good friend, "she looks very cute when she's asleep and … hey!"

"Sorry for that," a loud 'Oww' was heard through the phone from Tezuka's side. Somehow, that cry of pain had a very strange echo, "I went to the bathroom. Yup, so what's the matter?"

"Oh nothing, I was just checking if you woke up."

"Ah. Of course. Thanks." Yuki replied, "Syusuke and I are having breakfast at a café near … wait, I saw you! Turn to your left." Tezuka turned as she instructed. In front of him, across the road, he saw a girl in Seishun Gakuen's school uniform waving at him and a boy in Seigaku jersey rubbing a bump on his head, "Hiya! Hi Oishi!" He sighed once more.

_Oh. So she IS awake…_

The captain and vice-captain ended up joining the couple at the quiet table, under the sun shade, finally having a seat to rest their tired legs. Tezuka ordered a cup of double expresso to perk his senses up, while Oishi was busily dialling numbers on his phone. On the other hand, Yuki was so hopelessly sawing through her piece of bacon and trying not to bend her fork that Fuji decided to help and feed her.

"Ne, Tezuka…" Oishi looked up gravely from his phone, "Echizen is not replying to any of my calls or messages." He looked up at Tezuka for answers.

"Hn…"

Yuki took the piece of bacon from Fuji's fork, muching it, "What did you send him?"

"This."

Oishi, retracted his arm, deleting the message from the phone, "I'm afraid he's still asleep."

"Let me try." Yuki dished out her phone from her tennis bag, jabbing in a page of message. A reply came almost as quick as she sent it to Ryoma.

Fuji sliced apart the bacon and held it out to Yuki on a fork, "So koi, what did you send?"

She read out from her phone with a dangerous smirk,

"_Morning, Echizen. This is Yuki. Are you awake yet? Remember to be at the west entrance of the Tennis centre at 7.30. Please reply if you read this, or I shall come over to your house with Osakada Tomoka to pick you up. Btw, Karupin is a very cute name for a cat… Thank you very much."_

**0730h: West Entrance Rendezvous**

Seigaku met at the stated venue at the stated time, even Ryoma, which surprised Inui because in his records, there was a 99 chance of being late. Ryoma made very sure he locked Karupin in his room and fastened all windows. Tezuka filled in the line-up form and handed it up at the make-shift counter. Everyone was all geared up to play. Even the ichinen-trio, Sakuno and Tomoka were there to cheer them on, holding their pom-poms and flags and what-nots. Once in a while, Tomoka and Horio could be heard trying to strangle each other or tear each other into bits and pieces, but they would mellow down when they realise that Yuki was glaring at them with a sickened expression. She really wished that they tore each other up some times. Saves peoples ears. Stop noise pollution.

"Okay, here's your schedule for the first match." The in-charge began to inform Tezuka and Ryusaki sensei as he signed on the form, "Your team will have to play all 5 games for the first one today. Since you're seeded in the block, your team has a bye. So your match will start around … 11am? Yep."

The regulars groaned upon hearing that they have to wait for 3 hours just to play. Fuji stood at the board of line-ups with his hands clasp together behind him like a little girl. He looked from top to bottom then from bottom up. His smile became wider every minute he spent scrutinising the board which had lots of colour codes on it.

It was getting lively at the courts as teams did their workouts or rushed to the venues of their matches. Ryusaki sensei sighed as she looked at her sports watch, "Since its 11am then I guess you guys can either get an empty court to train or watch matches." Cheers came from some of them as they needn't sit around on the ground like a beggar, begging to play some tennis. "Just make sure you guys be back here at 10am."

"Yes ma'am!" with that, a few of them sped off to a distance. Kaidoh started training himself as usual, running laps around the vicinity. Momoshiro and Eiji went to a nearby match to observe. Oishi followed along to play nanny just in case. Echizen and Inui disappeared, probably to get some Ponta and data respectively, while Kawamura stayed with together with Tezuka and Ryusaki sensei.

"Come, come" Fuji dragged Yuki by the hand as usual, "I've got someone you have to meet."

_Hope he's not in a match now…_

After half an hour of searching the courts, Fuji finally spotted the distinct sleeveless red jersey with a yellow collar. A few of them were watching a match between two other schools. Pulling a reluctant Yuki, who was more interested in watching matches, he walked up to a taller silver-haired boy, giving him a light tap on his shoulder.

"Hey!" the silver haired boy responded as he took his eyes off the players for a moment, "Fuji!"

"Nice to see you again, Saeki." Fuji replied as Yuki stared blankly at Saeki, cocking her head to the right, she remembered seeing him before somewhere and that name seemed to ring a bell.

_Hmm… Saeki…. Just where I have I heard it… the watch! No no… that's Seiko…_

"So how are you doing? Waiting for your match?"

"Well yea. We had a bye too" Saeki replied with a smile which Yuki observed and fixed her eyes on, "I'm doing fine… and I see you are too." He bent towards the left to get a better look at the girl standing behind his childhood friend/rival, holding Fuji's hand, and staring at him with a raised eyebrow. "Your girl?" he nodded his head to the side, to state that he was referring to her.

"Yep." Fuji chirped, looking at Saeki to spot any other reaction.

"Ah… as I thought," he turned to the dark-haired girl, "you know you're very very lucky to have Fuji. Can you imagine how many girls are dying to have him? I've seen lots of them running round the place trying to catch his matches." He began to tease her, just as he did to some girls whom he met. The girl continued to stare at him blankly.

"Saeki…"

"What Fuji? Am I wrong?" Saeki questioned Fuji with a hint of laughter, "I bet she's better than that girl you were obsessed with a few years back when we were kids. I mean that girl was horrible! I don't even know whether she's really a girl!"

_Uh-oh…_

"Saeki…"Fuji brows became knitted with worry as his friend continued.

"And she's not, by any chance, near the standards of a pretty girl like this lady here. I still remembered dropping into the pond at the park because she smacked me in the back while telling a joke! Thinking about it, I wonder where she went. Maybe she flew over the sea and got thrown off the plane for irritating the passengers, " suddenly, Yuki's eyes widen with realisation, yet with anger at the same time.

_Stop hitting the ticking bomb Saeki…_

"Kouji-Ojii!" An annoyed Yuki cut him short, shouting at him as she pointed a finger at him.

_Boom _

Saeki's jaw dropped, "A…ara?" Fuji chuckled.

"Kouji…" Yuki stepped forth, right below Saeki's nose, "ojii!" A fist met his solar plexus with a small but hard force.

"Ahhh! Yuki's back!" Saeki let out a scream, as he took cover behind Amane who was standing behind him, violently disturbed from watching the match. "Crybaby!"

"Kouji-Ojii!"

"Crybaby!"

The name-calling war lasted for a few minutes. Fuji could only stand there, giving a very very wide smile.

_Now that's about time they realised…_

Maybe it was because it had been a long time since the both of them saw each other. On one hand, little Saeki loved to tease little shaky Yuki who had the tendency to burst into tears anytime. On the other hand, Yuki played rough and Saeki was constantly being smacked by her. She always wondered why he's hair was so light in colour. She thought he was albino but they told her that he was not, by any chance, a rabbit. So the only hypothesis that she came out with is that Saeki is an old man.

"Now that's a good one… Kouji-Ojii. Pfft." Amane thought aloud for a good pun. Just as Fuji was Yuki's shield in the name-calling war, Amane was Saeki's shield, "Good pun." Catching Yuki's attention, Amane, put his hand on his hips, trying to test her skill, "So where is he?"

Yuki smirked, "Kouji-Ojii? Sochii!" She pointed to the guy hiding behind him. Amane held back his laughter, a very natural reflex at a pun.

"Drat… another pun-loving brat." Saeki commented, still hiding behind his teammate.

"Ah… Fukobuchou, you got pun-ch! Pfft."

"Davide! That's not funny!", a fist popped out from behind Amane, threatening him to stop the lame jokes.

"Saeki is rather pun-y. I can't even see him now. Nyah nyah!"

"I'm not puny!"

The war continued to make up for all the time they had lost. In the end, Fuji had to step in to stop the both of them from acting like two 7 year old kiddies who were high on sugar. The place became much quieter after the two shad calmed down, sitting at a wooden bench under a pastel-coloured pavilion catching up on old times, squabbling occasionally as usual. However, their long conversation was cut short when Rokkaku had to play. Being the vice-captain, Saeki had to rush off to make sure his captain Aoi doesn't mess up. He sped off to the stated court, leaving two old friends relaxing under the shade.

Yuki looked up into the clear blue sky, watching the swallows fly by, "So what should we do now?" she counted the number of flying birds in the sky out of boredom as she swung her legs above the ground.

Fuji's smiled, "Saa… I do know that Yuuta's around here somewhere." At the mention of his younger brother, his eyes lit up with glee, yet, his smile began to twist in thoughts of evil, "I bet your good friend is there too… hehheh…"

"YAY!"

They spent more time with Yuuta than finding him. Fuji was reluctant to leave till Yuki was pestering him and whining that her curly-haired good friend from Yuuta's team had ran away. (A/N: grin)

"There you are!" Ryusaki-sensei shouted as Yuki and Fuji arrived at their meeting point. The rest of the regulars had just started on their warm-up, stretching their biceps and triceps. "You're late Fuji! Hurry up!"

"Hai!" Fuji ran to gather with the regulars, following suit with their warm-ups. He stood beside Tezuka, readjusting his jacket so that he could stretch better.

The match started off soon enough. Members of both schools cheered their hardest, hoping to boost the spirits of their players. Schoolgirl screams, school cheers and vulgar jeering, the atmosphere was tense for the participant, but Seigaku was used to this. They've faced scarier things like this, like Rikkai, the closing down of a burger shop, a band aid dropping off and fangirl mobs. To be frank, Ryusaki sensei and Yuki were the only females there not screaming their heads off. Tomoka was doing her usual "Ryoma-sama Cheer" in 5 different versions that Yuki wished she was deaf. I think Ryoma would have wished that too.

Half-an-hour into the game, Kaidoh-Momoshiro pair had already taken down the first win of the match. Their opponents were relatively weak. Not only were they able to keep up with Kaidoh's Snake shots, they were afraid of Momoshiro's Dunk Smash too. Maybe the fear developed after hearing how Yanagisawa of St Rudolph 'died' from it. St Rudolph said something about Yanagisawa losing some of his memory after waking up in hospital.

Fuji heard from Yuuta that Yanagisawa could only mutter "Dane" for 2 days after.

Atobe heard that he was afraid of smashes for a while. Kabaji agreed.

Kamio heard that he had to go for Mizuki-san's 'special' psychological treatment.

Yukimura heard about it from Sanada too.

Saeki heard a loud whacking sound when he heard Amane say "The duck didn't duck. Pfft." Oh well… people do hear different things.

Moral of the story: This is not the end of the chapter. )

The golden pair was halfway through their tiring game. Their pair of opponents was a toughie. Persistent and tricky, they managed to snatch a few points from Eiji and Oishi.

"3-2, Seigaku leads!" the umpire announced as he shielded the morning sun by pulling his white visor lower. "Change court."

The golden pair walked back to the bench, all sweaty and warm. Eiji sat on the bench taking a sip from his bottle while Oishi stood to drink, hoping up and down whenever he felt his body cool down. Ryusaki sensei sat there, observing them. She didn't think there was a need to advice them. In fact, they're capable enough to help themselves at the present moment, so advising them might break their concentration. That gave her time off to think about more personal stuff. She looked around realising that her granddaughter was no where in sight. This is unusually rare when Ryoma's match is up next, unless…

_Oh not again…_

She sighed. Turning around on her hard bench, she called upon her left-left-hand-man, or woman in this case, Yuki. She wasn't her right-hand man because Tezuka is and captains take the right side, managers take the left. She wasn't her left-hand man because Inui came first. So she had to come after Inui, on the left side.

"Yuki!" Ryusaki called out to the girl in a teal coloured school windbreaker, who was fidgeting, trying to get the best way to sit. She hated the kind of benches which came in the form of staircases. With such a short skirt and slight breeze, it's almost impossible to hide what's under the skirt. She slid of her seat slowly, making her way to her teacher.

"Have you seen my granddaughter, Sakuno?" Ryusaki whispered as she leaned backwards to Yuki.

Yuki raised her eyebrow. "Who?" She had heard about the coach's granddaughter from Momoshiro and Eiji, but she had not seen her before, or least know how she'd look like. She wasn't really into gossips so she gave most of Momo's and Eiji's chatter a miss.

"That quiet, clumsy, first-year girl with pleated hair, who is normally with Osakada-san," A soft mumble replied. Yuki looked up to find that it was Tezuka who answered her question.

"Oh… you mean she's _the_ Sakuno?" Yuki said upon realisation. She knew who was Osakada Tomoka but never really got the name of that girl who was following her. Holding her skirt down as a breeze went pass, Yuki turned back to the worried middle-aged lady, "Haven't seen her or Osakada-san since half-an-hour ago since they went off to get drinks."

The older woman slapped her forehead in frustration, "That means she's lost…again…" she growled at the thought of it. Maybe the gene for 'getting lost' came from her mother. Sometimes she didn't know what to do with her granddaughter. She had tried all possible ways of teaching Sakuno to find her way, but all were in vain. The only methods that she has not tired is asking her to throw stones on the ground (as in Hansel and Gretel), nailing her feet to the ground and tying her to a tree. "Could you help me find her? I'm afraid she'll get into trouble somewhere." Yuki nodded and sped off in search for the girl.

"I hope she's alright." Ryusaki sighed as she turned her eyes back to the match, "And Tezuka, since when did you learn how to eavesdrop?" she gave a mischievous smirk. She loved pointing out these 'bad' habits which Tezuka had recently developed. It was fun seeing the stoic, upright captain acting somewhat like an average teenage kid.

"Hnn…"

_I wonder…let's just hope Yuki doesn't get lost too…_

North, East, South, West, Yuki ran, looking behind the bushes, at the pavilions, in the mini café. No Sakuno to be seen. Her legs were getting rather sore and tingly with fatigue. She sat down at one of the benches, thumping her legs lightly with her fist.

She stared hopelessly at her normal shoes which weighed about thrice the weight of her tennis shoes, according to her second boss, the manager with thick glasses. "Mou, I should have worn my tennis shoes to run instead."

Her tennis shoes, together with all her tennis stuff, were sitting pretty in her bag next to Fuji's, which was squeezed in between Yuki's bag and Tezuka's bag. She shook her head at his intention.

_Syu can be so childish sometimes…_

"Hey! Get lost! Stop blocking our way!" Yuki's ears twitched at the familiar voice. It was of the exact pitch and manner that rebutted Horio everytime. She stood up quickly and followed the trail, finding Sakuno and Tomoka with four girls from another school, namely the school that they were playing against.

"What's the problem?"

"Ah! Yuki-sempai!" both girls exclaimed as they ran towards her, to get away from those girls.

"They said some insulting things about Seigaku and…and… Tomo-chan started fighting with them…" Sakuno shivered as she related to Yuki about what had happened, "They refuse to let us go and took our cans of drink." Tomoka was glaring at them, as they sneered back with arrogant looks. "And… and…"

"Ah…Seigaku not only has dumb girls but is full of liars too." One of the girls in the other group sneered, sending a fit of giggles among them. Yuki winced at the faces of those third-years, obviously disgusted with their behaviour and heavy make-up that made them look like some Chinese opera character. Hell, even Chinese opera stage actors look better than that in heavy make-up!

Yuki, putting her arms around the shoulders of the two first-years, beckoned them to return with her, "Come on, I'll get you better drinks somewhere else." She comforted them as she maintained her cool, "We shouldn't bother ourselves with unsightly things, that includes idiots."

"But Yuki-sempai…" Sakuno tried to tell her but they were stopped by a few guys.

"We heard you girls ran into a little trouble?" one of guys stepped out with a smirk as he asked the four who were harassing the younger girls.

"Those girls were insulting us. The oldest there did the most damage" the seemingly ring leader of the four replied as one of her friends began to fake some tears out of her eyes, running her mascara, "See… Hana here is crying…"

"Sorry, we're really busy. Maybe later" Yuki hurried, trying to get away from danger as she held on tight to Tomoka and Sakuno's hands. Unfortunately, the guys were fast enough to block her way. Yuki glared at their snickering faces, wishing she could bash their faces in if it didn't risk Seigaku being dropped from the competition.

"Now now, who do you think you are?" one of them grabbed on to Yuki's hand "We can't let you go like this… especially after what you've done…" She flung it off as quickly as possible, returning to hold on to Sakuno who was terrified. However, the guys was able to separate Sakuno from them, and soon enough, Tomoka was separated from Yuki too.

"Let them go!"

_Damn…_

"Nope, unless…" replied a guy with a blonde gel-ed wavy hair. He smiled forebodingly. His lips curled at the end so much that even a fool would know what he had on his mind, "We'll release you girls on one condition."

"So what do you want?"

Yuki stood on the one side of the tennis court holding on to a Wilson hammer racket, while another guy stood across the court getting ready. She thought hard about her decision. That seemed like the only way out anyways. Now it was just a matter of _how…_

"Sempai! Are you crazy!" Tomoka shouted as she sat inside the court, but outside the play area, with Sakuno, in between those incorrigible powder puffs, who seemed rather satisfied about Yuki's plight, "I know you beat Arai-sempai but…Strip tennis!"

_Oh, Shut up! I can't hear myself think!_

"Let me repeat the rules once again!" announced the guy at the other end who looked pretty confident, "To get back the 2 cutie pies over there, you got to win 2 games from me. Otherwise… for each loss of point," he grined widely at the thought of it, almost breaking into a drool, "a piece of your clothing or whatever you're wearing comes off. hehhehheh"

"And what if I've win back my girls and score some more points?"

Everyone from the other school threw their heads back in laughter, "Ah… then I'll strip, but that's sooo highly unlikely." Shouts of agreement rang out, as they were eager to humiliate. "On the other hand, I'll strip and pay you all the money we've got."

Yuki nodded and the match began. Though it was her service game, Yuki's shots seemed quite shaky. She wasn't quite used to the racket she was given, coupled with an unfamiliar player's play style. Her speed was hindered too due to many factors, one being her shoes. She wished that her bag was with her…

"30-40!" shouted the make-shift umpire, as Yuki removed one of the hairpins, throwing them on the floor, out of the court. That was the only time she thanked Fuji for making her use pins to make her look as feminine as she was as hime-sama.

"Man… I think we should have said that hairclips and pins aren't part of the strip game" whispered the umpire to his friends sitting at the back, sweatdropping, "this is getting long."

"Daijoubu!" reassured one of his friends, "Chita there is a good player. Moreover, Hana says all her pins are out." They waited in anticipation for the show.

"Game to Chita 1-0!" cried the umpire "Will the girl please… strip."

_Strip Strip strip, wait till I strip your skin out and rub salt on you_.

Yuki looked at her racket, running her hand though her hair, feeling less restrained. She was getting quite familiar with it already, having used Oishi's racket a few times when she was in a hurry. She rattled her hand on the strings, removing her right shoe. The guys let out a groan, unhappy that she was not revealing any more exciting stuff.

The umpire had a stroke of idea to speed up the process, "Shoes comes in _pairs_, so you've got to take both left and right off."

_Alright then… if you say so…_

"Ne, Tomo-chan" Sakuno whispered over to her best friend as Yuki had both her shoes taken off, "Why doesn't she retaliate?" Sakuno stared worryingly at her senior as she placed her shoes neatly at the end of her court, getting ready for Chita's service, barefooted.

Tomoka thought she saw Yuki smile for a second there. She rubbed her eyes and looked again, "I think she's gone nuts…" she sighed as the other girls cheered for Chita who returned to the court.

"15-0!" the umpire and the rest of the guys turned to Yuki, expecting her to take off something, praying that it'll not be her socks.

"Too slow!" Chita snorted with triumph as his last shot flew past his opponent who could only stare at the yellow furry thing boucing to a stop.

"Come on, baby! Take off somethin!" came from the right side of the court.

Suddenly, something unexpected came from the court.

"My oh my," Yuki exclaimed, fanning herself with her hands, she eyed her opponent, "Is it just me or is it getting hot?" with that, she took off her windbreaker, throwing them near her shoes. It made a loud 'chunk' sound as if a huge bag of coins were dropped on the floor.

_Phew…That's a load off my shoulders… _

"Let's get started," She returned back to court shoeless and in her school uniform, "We've got another match to see to."

"Game to Yuki, 1-2." The umpire stuttered in disbelief, "Yu… Yuki, wins." In a mere 5 minutes, the tables seemed to have turned on Chita. All of a sudden, it seemed as though balls were just flying past Chita, or right in front of him. Yuki whistled to her girls signalling them to move over to her, claiming her friends back from the Land of Foundation Powder and Cream.

She bent down to the two, breathing deeply, "Why don't you two go back first? I'll finish this soon." She ruffled her hair, to loosen it from the dampness, "Echizen's match is starting soon."

"But sempai!" Sakuno turned to her friend. As if they had a silent discussion, both of them nodded their heads and called out for their senior who was making her way back on court, "We want to watch you play!"

"Hmm?" Yuki turned back with a raise eyebrow, intimidating the poor girl.

"Well, erm… it's not like everyday we see you play…"

"And you saved us, so the least we could do is…"

"Sure. Just stay on that side of the court and try not to be captured again." Yuki breathed out, "Sit back and enjoy the show." She cackled hysterically in her mind, being careful not to think aloud.

_Darn, I'm tired again… _

She sighed, hitting her back with her fist. She bent a little to stretch it but to no avail.

_As I thought… got to get rid of the root of the problem then…_

Frustrated and angry, Chita threw his racket on the floor, picking it up again after kicking it with his foot. "I'm all fired up!" With that, he put in all his bull strength and concentration, hitting a lightning fast service, ace-ing Yuki once again!

"Yea!" he cried out in sheer joy that he had gotten back his form and might have intimidated her with that. In his years of playing, no one had broken that kind of serve that he did. He remembered how his friends from the team had commented on it and wished that they could do it.

"Oh dear…" Yuki tapped her head lightly as she reached under the back of her blouse with her right hand, making many wait in anticipation. However, to their disappointment and horror, the 'click' sound that came from her back was not what they expected. She pulled out a long belt, with at least 5 metal pieces slotted into them. She threw it at her stash of stuff, "I guess you've just helped me a lot. Thank you very much."

"Tomo-chan! Aren't those…?"

"Yea! Ryoma-tachi uses those metal pieces for training! I heard that one weighs about 500 g!"

No matter how Chita tried to trick and get past Yuki, he would either lose the point or making Yuki remove more weights from where ever was possible to even hang them...

**15 minutes later…**

He hasn't shifted for quite sometime in his spot, not since the 1st doubles. There wasn't a need to. Unobstructed view, less noise, little squabbling between fruit and reptile, less mumbling and intensive scribbling from Inui. Perfect… till he spotted three familiar people popping up again from the corner of his eyes. Tezuka turned around towards them, clearly looking a little annoyed by their punctuality.

"What took you so long?" Tezuka finally moved, questioning the three who returned after an hour of being missing in action.

"Sorry Buchou!" A serious Yuki bowed in apology as the other two girls did, "We were a little caught up." Tezuka nodded unsurely as he noticed Tomoka carrying something wrapped up in a windbreaker. From his angle, it looked unbearably heavy. His eyes followed the three till they sat down on the staircased-like beach. They turned their attention, watching Fuji play Singles 2. As expected, Ryoma had skim his way through his game. He was sitting at some corner watching and drinking his favourite ponta.

"Sempai…" Tomoka hauled up the wrapped up mass, holding it up in front of the co-manager. Her hands shook increasingly as she held it higher.

"Oh, sorry" Yuki quickly took back her belongings before it broke the trembling younger girl's arm. "Thanks. Sorry for the trouble. I didn't have the strength to carry it after the match."

Tomoka looked at Yuki as she returned to observe Fuji's game, "So… how…?"

"5 kg in total." Yuki replied bluntly to the two shocked girls, as she bent over to whisper something private, "that's what happen when you're under a dictator and a mad scientist." She began to put back her weight belt, ankle weights and all the other heavy stuff that she had taken out. The weight of it made her slump a little, making it look really uncomfortable.

"4-1 Seigaku leads!" the umpire announced as Fuji gunned down a game. The opponent panted heavily as Fuji skipped to his bench for a drink. At that instant, a scream came from a distance, getting louder and louder. Even the game was stopped momentarily as heads began to turn as a junior boy ran past in his checkered boxer shorts being chased by a bunch of reporters with cameras.

"_Hey hey, what happened?"_

"_-shrugs- I heard he lost a bet in strip tennis."_

"_What? But Chita's never lost to anyone… Wow…"_

"_Yea… and I heard it was a girl who beat him."_

"_What?"_

More puzzled commotions arose from the crowd that was watching Seigaku's match. Fuji could only cover his mouth to hold his laughter and stop himself from spitting out his water, which were seeping out through the cracks of her fingers. Tezuka could only stare hard at the girl who was happily helping herself to some chocolates that she brought along.

_Please tell me she didn't just do that…_

She looked innocently at him, chewing her treat. She held out a new bar to him, offering him the chocolate. Somehow that gleam in her eye just seems so similar to the kind that Tezuka always knew straight from Year 1 from a certain boy. Tezuka sighed, knocking his knuckle on his forehead.

_Oh god…_

A small voice peeped out from the bench in front of him, "Omoi… I should have gotten ready my camera…"

Suddenly, Tezuka felt his life being a lot more threatened by innocent-looking smiling people. Maybe he's just too uptight. Maybe it's just the Fujis. Maybe he should really go on a vacation soon. Hang on… scrap that last idea.

**2130h: Fuji's residence**

His footsteps were heavy with anger as he walked through his front gate. He looked up at the window and glared hard, seeing slight flashes of light in the darkness through on of the room windows.

_Good. He's awake…_

The main door swung open. He stepped into the house and kicked off his shoes. He greeted his mother, who stood behind the couch ironing clothes on her old ironing board, and his sister, who was busy checking through her organiser PDA. Both were having the same thought as he ran up the stairs with a red face. They sighed as smiles grew on their faces.

_What did Syusuke do now…?_

Yuuta finally reached his messy room, tossing his bag onto his empty bed before stomping to his brother's room. All he knew at that time was that he was ready to give aniki a piece of his mind for scaring Mizuki-san again. Though it was really Yuki who did that, he was convinced that it was part of his brother's evil scheming plan with a harmless cherry on top.

After tripping past a few of his stuff that were strewn on the floor, he found himself standing outside his brother's room, heaving with rage. His hand shook till it almost reached the handle, when he heard a loud thump followed by a scream coming from behind the door. His hand stopped at the handle as he strained his ear on the door.

"_Shh… not so loud or kaa-san might scold us if she found out what we're doing."_

"_but… but… can we not…"_

Yuuta thought he heard Yuki sobbing. He couldn't hear her last few words clearly as it was muffled, as though she spoke through something like… her brother's shoulder?

"_Hmm?"_

"_I'm scared! No more! sob"_

"_Aw… come on… its not like we haven't gone through this before… by the way, your nails are digging into me."_

"_but, I… I'm…"_

A scream rang out from behind the door as Yuuta heard a crash sound.

"_oh oh… oh no. I spilled it. Oh it's on your shirt too… "_

"_It's ok, we'll just clean up later."_

"_But it'll leave a stain!"_

"_Don't worry, it washes out. I promise."_

"_Well, not on the carpet, it won't!"_

"_Saa… shouldn't we just continue with what we were doing in the first place?"_

Yuuta froze at the door, with his jaw on the ground. He face was redder than before. At that moment, Yumiko came climbing up the stairs to check on all the noise. She spotted her cute little brother stoned at the door.

She grinned and patted him on his head, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be going in?"

"Bu-but…"

"_No, not again! sob EKKK!"_

Yumiko slapped her forehead, as she growled under her breath, "Oh god… not again" Her slender hand shot up to turn the handle, her brows knitted so much that even her make-up couldn't hide her fury.

"A-again? But ne-" Yuuta tried to warn his sister, but the hand was quicker than the mouth and the door swung open, revealing a smiling tensai and a girl shivering on the floor, hugging a pillow which looked like it suffocated to death. A mug lay on the floor, as a stream of apple juice covered a spot of the carpet.

"How many times have Okaa-san told you to switch on the lights to watch tv!" Yumiko reprimanded as Yuuta still stoned at the doorway with his mouth opened, "And I said 'No Ju-on for Yuki-chan'! Which part of 'no' do you not understand? The 'n' or the 'o'?"

"Saa… but Yumiko-ne said to 'Always get to the root of the problem'" Fuji retaliated with his index finger up, making his point, "So I'm just helping her to overcome her fear." Yuki cowered, burying her head more into the pillow as the scene on Fuji's tv was left to roll, showing the horror movie. "See… I tried to mute the show first since it's normally the sound effects that are scary."

Yumiko walked right in and switched it off, relieving Yuki off the trauma, "What I meant was to stop her from watching horror movies, not watch more!" She scowled, making her brother flinch.

"Oh…"

"Is it over?", A muffled voice squeaked out from the pillow, "Can I come out now?"

"Yes it over, dear," Yumiko put a comforting hand over her and patted her on the back, "Its bed-time already. You should be sleeping."

Fuji's eyes followed them as Yumiko guided the terrified teenager back to her room, trying to comfort her and coax her to remove the pillow from her face before she suffocates herself. To be frank, he could help but give a chuckle at how Yuki was trying to walk with a huge pillow in her face. However, he tried a little self-restrain before he ends up single again and strangled by his sister. As soon as the two girls disappeared from his sight, he cocked his head in curiosity, still holding the smile on his face.

"Ne… Yuuta." He asked, "Were you going to ask me something?" His smile grew even wider upon seeing how Yuuta blushed, "Your face seems redder than usual, you know…"

"Erm… Erm…" Yuuta stuttered, touching his face as though he had eyes on his fingers which could judge the shade of his face. His mind was fixed on what had just happen. He's face turned a shade even redder as he thought even deeper and remembered his mistaken idea. "Oh nothing…" with that, Yuuta sped off and all that Fuji heard from him was his door closing shut with the locks on.

_he's so adorable… teehee… rolls laughing mentally_

Yuki curled up in her bed like a prawn, shaking in fear as scenes from the show ran through her mind. Her curtains flapped gently, in the cool night breeze as the moonlight shone in eerily. To add on to the ghostly effect, her window faced her future home which was vacant. She made sure she faced towards the wall so that she will not have any chance to spot 'anything' gliding across in her home. It was just like the last time she saw the show with Tezuka and Fuji. The only difference was that this time, she was alone in her room while previously, Yumiko was watching over her. Moreover, she bet Yumiko had some way to chase those spirits out with Feng Shui or something. She wished she could have gone to sleep over at Yumiko's room. On the other hand, Yumiko assured Yuki there was nothing to be afraid of and told her that she has to deal with her fear. She tried switching on her study lamp to sleep but that only made the room lighting seem even more similar to that in the show. She buried her head nervously under her blanket as her sweaty hands gripped tightly to her blanket, making sure that they stay where they are. Then again…

_Wait a sec… didn't that little ghostly boy appear under the blanket?_

Her head popped back out from under the sheets, burying between two pillows. A long string of endless words started flowing out of her mouth in a continuous chant as her hands began to clench itself on the pillow now. She couldn't hear anything, just the chanting and praying that she was muttering. It wasn't the fact that it eased her suffering, just that she was hoping her chanting will make her so tired that her brain would automatically shut down. It sounded like some nonsense anyway, so most probably it will bore her. She tried to shake off all the horrifying thoughts and imaginations that were plaguing her mind like tuberculosis to the lung. However, she just couldn't shake of the feeling that something was behind her. She held on tighter to whatever her hands were holding onto, no matter how much they were slipping off grip.

Suddenly, she felt a hand curl around her stomach. She striked with lightning quick reflexes, doing only what her instincts commanded. She tried to struggle as she tried to scream. However, she was silenced when another hand covered her mouth. The hand was warm and strangely, smelt of soap.

"Stop struggling," The hand over her stomach was released to calm her down, "it's only me." Yuki turned around, pushing the hand off. She squint her myopic eyes in the dim light.

"Oh… it's you." She scowled, giving Fuji a hard kick to the chest, sending him flying off her soft bed. She threw her extra pillow at the blurry blob that she saw, sending him back on the floor as he got up. He scrambled back under her blanket as she ignored him and turned away, minding her own business.

"Saa… I'm sorry", Fuji tapped her shoulder to get her attention, only to get his hand shrugged off , "I even scrubbed the carpet off the juice." He prodded the unresponsive body, "Sorry, I promise not to scare you again. Forgive me? Ne. Ne." He continued prodding her with his slender index finger till he detected a stir. Making sure that he was safe from any smacking or slapping or punching or kicking –insert more violence here-, he move forward to hug her from the back and continue to prod her tummy.

A drowsy slurred voice replied, "Whatever… just stop poking me, I want to sleep." The lifeless body came to life, turning itself and snuggling against the other, "I'm cold. Need free heating service." A monotonous laughter followed, making Fuji wonder if it was out of sacarsm or just a tired laughter. Nevertheless, a snuggle is still a snuggle. He could have scream out in joy or hug her till she suffocated, but no, he is Fuji Syusuke. Fuji Syusuke smiles, not scream, or smile wider if they are happier.

"Aw… let me give you more warmth then" he giggled as he wiggled closer happily till he heard a cracking sound which resonated through the stillness of the room, breaking the silence. He stopped moving immediately.

"Did you hear that?" he gasped, holding tightly to Yuki till she almost suffocated, "What do you think that was?" He looked at all possible angles of the room from his position, not daring to move or look behind him.

"I think your butt crushed my glasses."

* * *

Okay that's the end of this chap. Hope you like it! Review! XD

Ojii- grandpa

Sochii – over there.


	16. When you can't see

**A/N:** Yes. the next chap. Thanks for the reviews! Hope you like this! scrambles to write the next chapter Give me a bat. I need to wake the writing side of me!

* * *

  
The cool breeze rustled the fallen leaves that lay on the hard grassy floor as more leaves fell from the trees like the feathers of a fallen angel. Yet, there was this deafening silence on the grounds of Seishun Gakuen. If you listened hard enough, there was a complex stillness, a kind of peacefulness in the sound of nature. Tezuka loved this setting second to tennis. It was a great way to spend his time before school ended when his lessons ended early. The feeling that everything was calm, not a single thing to worry about, it just takes his mind off his hectic life: the tennis team, the students' council, his grandfather, his irritating-unofficial-stalking fanclub. Somehow he's beginning to enjoy Fuji's presence more often as he scares off the fanclub with his glare. 

_Well, I guess I can't really blame him for his behaviour…_

Tezuka rubbed his temples with his bony knuckles. An angry Fuji was not a good thing, even on the courts. Even Yuki wouldn't risk teasing him. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago when Fuji turned murderous and almost went on a rampage if he didn't have any self-restrain.

The squealing fanclub had gone a little out of hand. Yuki found offensive letters of threat on her table and narrowly escaped a nasty prank in their canteen. Knowing Fuji's hidden temper, Tezuka almost thought of locking the blue-eyed tensai in the neatly arranged clubroom to give him time to cool down. Then again, he'd have to risk having all the equipment in the room being destroyed. Gosh, those equips cost a bomb! Ryusaki sensei was always nagging him about the tight budget that their team was under. Missing balls, broken nets and court rollers to dry the court were expensive enough. Broken benches, windows, lockers, shelves, baskets just won't do.

Maybe he could use Eiji's Daigoro as a substitute. Most probably Fuji would wring its head out, rip out its eyes, dig out the stuffings and impale the remains on a stick. Not that Tezuka ever liked that giant brown stuffed bear anyway. However if that happened, he will have to deal with Oishi, who's worried over a bawling Eiji who's most likely to hold a funeral procession and burial for his toy.

He pushed up his glasses with his index finger before leaning on the backrest of the green metal bench. He gave a quiet sigh, running his fingers through his brown hair, separating clump from clump so that they swayed with the wind, reminding of the last time he went mountain climbing. His hand quickly returned to his lap where his bag was sliding off. His senses began to shut down as weariness slowly crept in. Slowly, he loll his head over the right allowing his neck to come to a comfortable position.

"Ne Tezuka." The nodding boy jumped out of his seat, his heart at his mouth, beating 200 plus beats per minute. Apparently the drowsiness has an effect on Tezuka's composure (Inui: Ii data….). His black bag tumbled to the ground like how his heart tumbled back into position, but that was the least of his worries…

"Since when were you sitting there?" Re-adjusting his off-positioned glasses, he stood up, and questioned monotonously with his expressionless face. He's eyes fixed on the girl who, without any of his knowledge, was sitting quietly beside him on the bench.

"Not very long." The girl replied as her face held a mellow expression, "I was just waiting for you to wake up." Her face masked the emotions she was having. Namely…

_Muahahahahahaha –rolls oh the floor laughing till asphyxia sets in-_

"Hn." He raised his eyebrow at the girl suspiciously, detecting her inner laughter. His right eye brow, however, didn't move much on his stoic face. He held back a blush or any stutter which may further ruin his reputation.

"Sorry if I scared you."

"Don't ever do that again or I'll make sure you'll run so many laps that you'd wish you didn't have any legs."

"Roger that captain."

Tezuka glanced around him, making sure no one was in the vicinity.

_Good. No fangirls. No Fuji._

"So… why were you waiting for me?"

"Well, I was wondering if you know anywhere I could get a new pair of glasses…"Yuki looked at him intently. Picking up his bag from the ground, he swept a spot of the bench with his hand before sitting on it.

"Hn?"

Yuki sighed, opening her huge bag. She stuck her hand, viciously digging into the abyss of books, papers and god knows what, pulling out a small dark-coloured spectacle box. Tezuka frowned at the unsightly untidiness. From it, she removed two cracked lens and one badly bent spectacle frame. It was badly damaged to the point where the centre bridge of it was in an awkward U-shape and the ends were crooked.

Tezuka's eyes opened in awe. No frame has ever caught his attention like this. Even the shape of it awed him more than the Hyotei captain's prowness.

_Atobe is so going to be jealous -smirk-_

"Now… that's… interesting." Mouth agape, he took it gently from her hands, putting it up against the light, turning it round and round. The glasses, which he hardly saw on Yuki, was now just some cracked piece of 'artwork'

Yuki's eyes narrowed almost as if she was going to snarl. She pouted and mumbled in a low voice, "That's what he said too when he took it out from between his butt and my bed…"

_Hn… no wonder Fuji was walking funny this morning…_

**After school**

It wasn't how Tezuka expected to spend his free afternoon. Just the previous day, he thought of spending some time reading his new book while feeding his perpetually hungry kois that "swim laps" in their pond, in his opinion, the only living things apart from him which willingly do laps. He didn't care what other's say but, yes, he did like watching them swim back and forth. He LOVED seeing them swim back and forth. Period.

Now, he was on his mission: To bring Yuki-chan to his spectacle shop. It wouldn't be that bad if an extra person had tagged along, smiling creepily at him from time to time when he made a quick check to make sure he was still there and not somewhere creating trouble that had irreversible consequences. He wondered how Yuki could stand him sometimes. It was like bringing a little kid out on walkies. It gets dangerous when the kiddy is bored. On the other hand, he did admire Fuji's persistence in trying to get a hold of Yuki's hand as she, on all attempts, was successful in dodging his quick fingers. Tezuka could only wait for the moment where she would get so irritated that she'll elbow him and leave him in a ditch or something. In his opinion, being with the Fujis for too long can lead to adverse effects, for example, scary outbursts. Still… Fuji, the tensai who has caused him so much pain in the butt; blackmailed him; schemed numerous 'impossible-made-possible' plans; photo-shot him sleeping, in a drain or begging for mercy will be good.

"Welcome!" greeted the cheerful optician at the counter as the captain pushed the door, entering the shop. He gave a quick nod to the unfamiliar face, not remembering that he had seen her before. He gestured to Yuki and Fuji into the place. Yuki mouth opened wide as she looked around. The store was shiny! Not because of the fact that it was newly renovated and extremely sparkly clean but the walls were filled with display shelves of glasses for sale. Who would have known such a small shop could look worlds apart on the inside. Like a young child, she skipped over for a closer look realising the different kinds of frames. They looked so new that she daren't touch them, but look at them from a distance. Fuji, on the other hand, was helping himself to the frames, picking one up, trying to find a good mirror. She could have joined him in his dress-up however…

"Ah Tezuka-kun!" An old wrinkled man of around 60 years came out of the shop's pantry. He wiped his wet hands on a cloth next to the pantry door, "Your glasses need to be changed again? And I thought you came for a check-up 3 months ago."

"Ah Saito-san." Tezuka gave a bow to him, "This time, it's my friend who needs glasses." He pointed over to the girl who stumbled, trying clumsily to catch a frame which she knocked over.

"Sou ka. Hai, Saito desu. Dozo yoroshiku" He bowed and beamed at Yuki who returned him a smile, nodding her head shyly. "How about I give you an eye check before I let my daughter helps you with your frames?"

"Erm… sure. Arigato." Yuki hurried in, leaving the oblivious Fuji to admire his cuteness with the different frames with his different poses.

_I hope he didn't see me drop the other frame…_

_And then it's the school girl pout! Next… the buchou stare! And the Inui ekk nope, that looks horrible on me. Oh well… then there's the …._

_Hang on… how old is Fuji, again?_

In a few minutes, Yuki found herself sitting at the pristine counter, infront of the lady who greeted them earlier on. She looked through the well-wiped glass counter, searching while tugging nervously at her pink skirt. Tezuka decided to help, taking his mind off his team's tensai-turned-model.

"Hn, How about this one?"

"Hmmm… Nope."

"This one."

"Nope"

Saito's daughter, in an attempt to assist her customer on her new job, finally popped her question, "Maybe you could tell me any of your idea of frames?" She spoke slowly and unconfidently, having a slight chance of stuttering on the way.

"Well…" Yuki hesistated, before bring out her shocking contorted glasses out, making the lady's jaw drop, "Anything like this… well the original shape."

"What happened to it?"

"Eheh" Yuki gave a dry laughter, "My boyfriend sat on it?"

"Oh…" the lady realised. She stood at the counter, pondering for a while. Tezuka couldn't help but notice that her eyes were constantly shifting back and forth from the twisted frame to him, her lips sealed tight as if she was holding back something. It was only a mere few seconds, it made the taller boy uneasy. He was beginning to wonder if she was part of the fanclub or a spy for them. Somehow images of Seishun Gakuen girls' rushing into the shop and glomping him filled his mind, making his hair stand on its ends. She finally walked over to another counter, motioning Yuki over. Yuki sat infront of her once again while Tezuka stood quietly beside her, pushing up his glasses once again.

Her hand shifted under the glass, bringing out a few frames from the display "There and there and there" She laid them out square in front of her deliberating customer before pulling a small round mirror over.

"I'll have this then." Yuki took off the glasses, handing it over to the lady, "Yes, this should do then. Thank you." The lady took the glasses with both hands, smiling. She certainly had her father's smile, broad and wide, just like any shopkeeper should have.

"Ah. I thought so." The lady chirped, writing out the invoice is a neat handwriting, "Matching frames with your boyfriend."

"Ara?" a simulatous exclaimation came from Tezuka and Yuki.

"Isn't he…?" the lady asked looking rather confused.

"No!" another simulataneous reply came again, making the lady embarrassed at the mistake.

"Oh sorry." She apologised profusely, blurting out more than her customers could handle, not seeing that Tezuka and Yuki were waving their hands like a metronome below their waists. The metronome upped its tempo in vain. "So sorry. It just that both of you look so like an item" the two in front of her slapped their foreheads as she ranted on and on on her 101 reasons on 'How she made _that_ mistake'.

_Shhh… Are you blind! Urusai!_

_Did I just hear something… hmm? Omoi… _

_Oh no… I think he heard... Bless you my child…Just make sure my spectacles are done…_

Tezuka could only hope that a zipper would miraculously appear on her lips. Yuki could only hope that _somebody_ didn't hear that. Fuji could only hope that she was prepared… hehheh.

"Of course Tezuka is not with her" a voice rang out from behind them, making Tezuka and Yuki pray… hard. A smaller boy appeared from behind Tezuka, giving an obvious pout, one which showed jealousy.

_May it be quick and painless…continues prayer_

_Don't answer him! Don't answer him!_

"And you are..?"

_Shoot… I said…! Oh wait… mataku, I hate talking in my head…_

"Well, he's…" Yuki covered her eyes, pointing at him. However, her explaination was interrupted.

"I'm _his_ boyfriend!" Fuji yanked Tezuka right arm into his arms, snuggling lovingly at his shoulder. The bespectacled boy wished the doctor had made a wrong dianogsis and amputated his right arm off during his regular arm checkup, "Right, koi?" Fuji glanced upwards at Tezuka adoringly. With one hand still grabbing Tezuka's arm, he slid the other hand down to clasp his captain's hands, giving it a little squeeze, making Tezuka's hair stand even more on its ends. That… was worse than mobbing fangirls. The lady dropped her jaw and her eyes widened. Yuki gave a soft giggle, taking her invoice from the frozen hand of the lady.

_Why me? Kami-sama… why? First fangirls… now this… Kami-sama… my heart can't take it…_

"Fuji…" Tezuka sighed while trying to unlock Fuji's grip from his arm. It wasn't the fact that it was hurting his arm but the humiliation that he saw coming. Whatever that sadistic nutcase was up to, he was not going to lose.

"Hmm…?"

"Stop it, we're not lovers."

Fuji gasp, "How could you say that?" He proceeded to wrap his arms around Tezuka, pretending to be oblivious of his surroundings, "especially all that we went through for each other…" Now Tezuka was struggling to push the pair of arms off his waist before anyone else sees it. He had heard that before and the ending wasn't good. A tramatised immobilized shopkeeper's daughter was bad enough. Word spreading around the school would be worse. He pleadingly looked at Yuki for help, though she was busily trying to hold back her laughter.

"I'll just leave you two lovebirds alone then. Shan't play gooseberry" Yuki stood up, waving to them as she walked to the glass door, "Ja ne! Have fun! Be good you too!" The door jingle rang as Yuki hurried out to find a place where she could burst out in her unsightly laughter. Left speechless and stunned, Tezuka's face turned 5 shades paler.

"Don't worry! I'll be gentle! Ne… koi? smile"

_Help._

**Tezuka's Residence**

"Tadaima" Tezuka's voice resounded through his house as he took off his shoes at the front of his house. A quick staccato of footsteps immediately followed suit. In a finger-snapping moment, Kunihazu was right smack in front of his grandson, heaving, trying to catch his breath. At over 70, it wasn't easy running like that. But for an excellent grandson, its worth the trouble.

"Kuni… Kunimitsu" Kunihazu panted, "I heard from Specky Saito that you've got a boyfriend! Is that true!" The old man's eyes were wide open, searching his grandson's expressionless face for some answers. Any answers.

"No."

"But he said, your boyfriend was a shorter guy with light brown hair… OH!" Kunihazu ranted on as he followed the boy closely as he travelled from the foyer to the kitchen to the living room, "Is it that guy… the one who comes here sometimes? I didn't know you two were…Gasp! ARE YOU GAY? What happened to Yuki-chan!"

"NO!" Tezuka turned around, making his point clear. "No, we're not together. He was just pranking as usual." The point was not made quite clear to the old man though. He stood there trying to place his finger on which question his grandson said 'no' to, the first on the second. "And she just needs glasses."

"Oh. Haha, I got too worried" the grandpa gave a hearty laugh, scratching the back of his head before returning to his serious nature, "So how was your day?"

"The usual." Tezuka picked up his tea, sipping a little while reading the headlines on the front page of the neatly-folded newspaper "Except I brought Yuki to Saito-san to get new glasses."

Kunihazu's eyes brightened with excitement at the mention of a certain person, "Hontou? And?"

"And she got an eye check."

"And…?" Tezuka senior senior probed.

_This is getting juicy…_

"And she got new glasses"

"And…?"

"And she went home."

"And…?"

"She went home. The end." The newpaper shifted as Tezuka looked up from the text, "What's there to 'and' about?"

"Didn't she invite you into her house for a drink when you sent her home?"

"I didn't send her home." Tezuka replied bluntly.

"WHAT!" Kunihazu exclaimed. The high pitched exclamation was a strain to his larynx, causing him to cough, "How many times have I told you, 'You must send her home!'"

"Ojii-san… she does know her way home. Don't worry. She's not a lost puppy."

"But.. but… ARGH!" the older man tried to find a way to explain to his grandson. Then again, it seemed as though he's words are falling on lowly intelligent ears "I give up!" He threw his arms into the air, stomping upstairs. A loud slamming sound reverberated throughout the Tezuka's residence shaking even the dinning table that Tezuka was sitting at.

"My ancestors!" A distressed voice rang out from upstairs, "What have I done? Is this retribution? What have I wronged! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry…"

_Not again…_

Tezuka put down his papers. He looked up annoyingly as though he could see through the ceiling and into the altar room which contained the tablets of his ancestors. He noticed that his recently his grandfather had been 'talking' and 'apologising' to his ancestors' tablets quite often. He was beginning to worry if his grandfather has been taken ill or something along that line. Frankly speaking, he did look up the internet about insanity and depression, made a checklist of symptoms and made his own observations. No matter how Tezuka bugged his mother with the full checked list, she would just smile and reply, "He's very much sane dear." Before shaking her head and giving a little giggle.

Just when he returned to the fourth page of the newspaper, his cellphone rang.

"Tezuka Kunimitsu speaking."

"Mitsu-ni. Daijoub"

click

_That felt good._

_You daring lil…_

His cell rang again, making a buzzing sound as it vibrated on his dinning table. After eyeing it, making sure that it doesn't buzz its way off the table, he went back to his papers. To some extent, he was thankful his grandpa trained and drilled on his concentration power since he was a little boy. Finally the phone became still again, yet, it was not the end to disturbance.

A minute after his handphone stopped threatening suicide, his home phone started ringing. Tezuka slammed his papers down on the table in frustration. He took one big sip from his teal mug, grabbing the papers back into position to distract his mind off that awful blaring sound that came from the end of the kitchen and in the living room.

_I knew having phones around the house was a bad idea…but did anyone listen to me…nooo…_

Soon, another set of staccato tiptap and grumbling came down the stairs and past Tezuka who couldn't care less whether his grandpa picked up the kitchen phone. The old man stomped over to the kitchen counter where a normal beige phone was stuck to the wall.

_Can't you just pick up the bloody phone? It's disturbing my prayers! Don't blame me if you're old and all alone with nobody to talk to!_

"Moshi moshi" Kunihazu snapped through the handset after he literally ripped it off the phone in irritation. He's tone changed for the softer and gentler once he heard the voice on the other side, "Ah… It's you. Yes, I'm fine, thanks for the concern"

_As I said, good granddaughter-in-law material. nods_

"It's been so long since you came, you should visit us some time." Kunihazu's lips curled at the end, trying to get another shot of matchmaking, "Too busy? Zannen desu ne… Oh you're looking for Kunimitsu?" He shot a look at the boy who had his back facing him. He knew something was up. Calling for his grandson, he wedged the phone between his shoulder and cheek, trying to make himself some tea from his new collection. Tezuka turned around and waved his hand, a gesture that his grandfather knew very well, yet frowned upon that moment. "Kunimitsu is busy, shall I get him to call you back?"

_Phew…_

A long silence followed as Kunihazu listened intently to the speaker before…

"WHAT!" That moment, Tezuka's head jerked forward rather violently as a box of tea leaves bounced off his head. "Please hang on a moment, my dear." Kunihazu requested sweetly… too sweetly for Tezuka's comfort. The moment Tezuka heard the headset make a thump sound on the counter, he scrambled to his feet to make an escape to his room. Unfortunately, the wrath of grandpas usually strikes faster than lightning, even before you can take one step..

"SIT!" Tezuka's reflex action caused him to drop back to his chair. He stuck himself to the back of the chair as far in as possible, anxiously trying to avoid the gaze of his furious grandfather, fidgetting like a guilty little kid.

A metal teaspoon slammed onto the table with such force that Tezuka thought the table could have cracked into half and fall apart, "Tell me the truth. Did you ignore Yuki-chan's phone call?"

Tezuka hung his head as he peered through his fringe at an angry Ojii-san. He gave a small nod, praying hard that his grandfather wouldn't whack him with the spoon.

"How can you be so rude!" Kunihazu's eyes burned with ire as he tortured the table once again with countless spoon bashings. Tezuka winced and jumped at every loud thud the spoon made with the wooden table, "Who said you can ignore her phone calls!"

"Nobody…" Tezuka squeaked mercifully.

"Did you pick it up at school!"

"No."

"Then why did you do that!"

"Sorry."

Kunihazu glared at him, pulling the boy out of his chair and dragging him to the phone by his collar.

"Done. My grandson is free now. Very free. Have a good talk you two." Kunihazu smiled as he informed the girl at the other end who was doodling on a piece of paper. He turned around and shoved the headset into his grandson's chest with a glare, not taking his eyes off him till he made conversation.

"Yes?"

"Hey… you're still angry with me?"

"What do you think?" Tezuka answered bluntly, which got him a big stomp on his foot by the eager old man. He held the pain under his breath, not wanting to scream out loud and thus turning his co-manager deaf.

"Yes, you're angry?" Yuki whispered catiously, preparing and bracing herself for an earful. Flashbacks of Tezuka reprimanding her filled her mind once again. It was not longer than 2 weeks ago that she messed up the logs and inventory checks for equipment and Tezuka scolded her again and again till she could have burst out in tears.

"…"

She pressed her ear against her cell, trying to decipher out any mumblings that her best friend may make, "I'm sorry. I guess it went too far ne..."

"…"

"I'm sorry, Fuji's sorry, we're sorry… We just thought we could cheer you up since you look so stressed recently."

Tezuka raised an eyebrow at the mention of his condition. That was a first, "Am I?"

"You sound stressed already." Rolling her eyes, Yuki commented on his low mumbles. His voice sounded like it belonged to a playwright who's yet to come out for a script to screen the next day.

"…"

"Hello?"

"Yes?"

"Nothing, just making sure you didn't hang up on me again."

"Gengis Khan watches Kublai Khan and threatens him with his Mongolian army if his negotiation goes wrong. Any wrong move and Kublai Khan would get shot by the cavalry archers."

"Ah I see. Nice way of putting it, but it's completely un-history, and its not a negotiation.," Yuki gave a little chuckle, imagining Kunihazu firing at a darting Tezuka, who hides under the tables, behind the couch and finally make his way back to his room.

_Of course, try talking over the phone with someone staring at you…_

"But you can run from Ojii-san"

"Yes, but that's not the point." Tezuka gave a quick wary glance at his grandpa who seemed to be brightening up, "The point is cavalry archers are able to shot targets even 50 metres away."

_Ah… they're discussing homework… how lovely…_

"Well, that's too bad, run faster. Anyways, go check your bag. There's something in there that's yours."

"Everything in there is mine…"

"Whatever, just check it. I have to complete literature homework. Bye"

"Bu"

click

_Talk about payback time…_

Tezuka coolly placed back the handset back in place, making an excuse to return to his room. He left his grandfather rather satisfied and strangely holding back laughter.

'_Need to go to my room for some air'?… right… shakes head Bad liar._

Tezuka opened his bag, taking everything out one by one to find 'what's his'.

_What's mine… sheesh… the English book's mine, the pencil case's mine, opps, nope, this dead leaf isn't minethrows leaf into bin. With that done… spectacle case is mine, money?...hn… mine. Deodorant is mine … the … ara?_

A wooden box sat snugly in his bag as if it expected Tezuka to find… as if it wanted to be found…

Tezuka picked it up slowly. He had a gut feeling that made him want to listen for a ticking sound in the box, but then again, he guessed she wouldn't send him a bomb. Yuki wasn't that capable of doing so anyways. Inui… surely, Fuji… maybe, Momoshiro… accidentally, but Yuki… the bomb will just fall apart without exploding. He remembered her trying to screw a bench back together. She took the whole afternoon to just clumsily screw a few plus-screws into the wood. At the rate she fumbled with the screwdriver and switching it from hand to hand, making lots of cheese holes in the wood, it was already good enough that the bench could hold Eiji, Fuji and Ryoma on it… till Momoshiro went over to join them and Inui started a countdown from 10. After that, the bench was good for firewood. Excellent size to chuck it in the flames at the fire place.

Gently, he lifted the lid, hoping there's no traps. It doesn't hurt to be extra careful… you'll never know. All that was inside the auburn coloured wooden box was a letter on the maroon velvet covering of the inside cushion. As he flipped the box open to reach for the piece of neatly folded paper, a soft string-plucking music played. He stared at the music box as he cautiously unfolded the letter to reveal a whole paragraph written in a familiar messy hand:

_To: Tezuka/buchou/Onii-chan_

_No matter how much we struggle in life, we can never be free from our responsibilities. No matter how far we go, we can be sure that our troubles will follow._

_Sometimes the more we try to run, the faster they'll get to us, slamming us in the back just like how everybody fell over during laps when Echizen tripped over his Ponta can._

_So why not, throttle on slowly where you are sure to find your way and not get lost in your attempt to outrun your worries?_

_This box (equipped with a cool key which locks it), will hear your troubles if you write them out and put it in. Best of all, it wouldn't tell anyone your secrets. Teehee. Hope you like the music too! Tink Tink Tink _

_Yuki. _

_P.s. If you need someone to hear you out, you can always call me or leave me a msg._

His eyes somehow soften at the end of the paragraphs. He folded the piece of paper, replacing it back to its original location, pinning it down with a little pebble which he took from his table. The box sat on his study table, playing its tranquil music. Tezuka kicked off his blue cotton slippers as he lay down on his soft bed. He removed his glasses, crossing his arms over his face, blocking the sunlight from his tired eyes. The music was alluring as it sounded innocent, like some kind of kiddy lullaby. He wished days could pass like this. He thought he could have let out a little chuckle as his arm went damp…

"And… there. Done." Yuki scribbled the last of her line for her literature essay, double checking the piece of work, making sure that there wasn't any hidden parts that had to be done. Twirling her blue pen with her right hand, she read through her dreaded essay which she took more than an hour to complete. The study table filled with dog-earred dictionaries, an electronic translator and some simple books. It was simply another of her signature trademark: mess.

Suddenly, the tuneful ringtone of her cellphone rang. She smirked at her phone that lay on her pillow, avoiding the chances of getting lost in the Bermuda triangle of the table.

_It's about time! _

She picked up her phone, expecting to hear at least a little 'thank you' from her captain.

Jumping onto her bed, she jabbed the answer button with her thumb, chirping into the phone, "Moshi moshi"

Yuki's eyes widen as the other voice replied. The phone slipped off, falling to the bed as her grip loosened. It wasn't the deep mumbling voice that she expected, yet it was rather familiar to her… one which she had hear one too many times…

_Uso…_

* * *

Yes... I'm writing I'm writing! XD Pls review 

Dozo yoroshiku – nice to meet you.

Daijoubu – Are you ok?

Okay guys… so sorry for the late postings. Review pls. I hope the next chapter comes out soon. Teehee. Love ya lots.


	17. Note from the Author! Sorry!

Hi! Dark here (aka, the writer of this story)...

thanks for all the support and reading my story and all... and sorry for not updating. I'm so really sorry.

It may seem like I abandoned the whole story but **NO **I have not. I repeat **I have not abandoned the story**! Its barely halfway! I was just busy trying to cope with university. Just entered university around the mid of last year (noticed the date which the last story was updated?), and have been bombarded with reports and more reports stab self .

So this year! Though I've been busier than last, I've managed to come out with storylines for 5 chapters. Cool, right? but my computer decided to crash after that. . taking the chapters all with it, including the written and half written ones. Its safe in the hard drive though! Just that my computer won't work and I'm gonna repair it during my June holidays after my on-going exams... and get those chapters out asap!

Hate to leave you guys with cliff hangers and all! Will get back to it ASAP!

Sincere apologies,

Dark who stares and weep over her 'dead' laptop.


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